


Lost On You

by Basmasadek



Series: Avenging Hunters [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anniversary, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Married Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Married Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Mutant Husbands, Soul Bond, Superhusbands, Team as Family, hunter husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:32:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 71,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmasadek/pseuds/Basmasadek
Summary: Tony decided to introduce the Winchesters to his childhood friend, Charles Xavier, after the latter asked for his help. introductions made, an explosion happened and the family got brutally separated with no idea how to reunite again, leaving broken hearts in its wake.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys! hope you didn't forget about me!  
> So, I decided to add another favourite ship of mine to this crazy mix I have no idea how to control! Please, welcome Cherik (Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier)!
> 
>  
> 
> I just need to point some things out first:
> 
> -English is not my first language, I tried to fix any mistakes, So if you find any feel free to point them out.
> 
> -I am violently denying Endgame until the day I die. I am creating my own universe thank you. 
> 
> -To fit in Cherik in the mix, First Class's events happened during the events of Iron Man 1 because I said so. it will be explained more thoroughly in future chapters. 
> 
> -I accidentally made everyone gay and I feel no regrets. 
> 
> -I have no idea how science works but I tried to make sense as much as I could.
> 
> -Charles didn't lose his hair. I deny that too. He has his beautiful hair from X-Men: Apocalypse. 
> 
> \- You can read this one as a stand alone but you will be confused about a few things like how did they meet, situations that happened between them and whatnot, So if you have time I suggest you read the past parts first. If not, I tried to clarify everything you will need to know as much as possible.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! please comment and tell me what you think.

 

 

Dean woke up on a normal Tuesday morning. Feeling refreshed and satisfied from his activities with Castiel the night before.

They were in their room in the Bunker. He could already hear the others waking up and starting their day from outside the room. It was impossible not to hear since they were so fucking loud. Thor’s loud voice alone as he greeted everyone he sees was enough to wake up an entire country.

Ten months. He had been living in this craziness for ten months now and he was enjoying every moment of it. A batshit crazy family. But a family nonetheless that he was proud to be a part of.

He trailed his eyes towards the sleeping angel in his arms. Their anniversary was in a week. They will be officially married for three years. The thought alone placed a huge grin on his face unconsciously. Best three years of his life. He could hardly believe that Castiel actually stuck around all these years, even before they got married and didn’t run away screaming.

Funny thing was that Steve and Tony’s anniversary is a day after theirs. It was a happy coincidence really. Obviously, they decided to celebrate both anniversaries together. That will be a very interesting evening really, but Dean supposes Tony will be on his best behavior, or as best as he could manage anyway, so Dean will also try.

His eyes travelled Castiel’s body up and down appreciatively as he slept. Working out almost every day did wonders on the already beautiful body. He now feels an electric shock through his body whenever Castiel wears one of his shirts and fills them nicely. It gives him a possessive feeling and an overwhelming urge to hide his angel from any appreciating eyes. Not that anyone would dare to even try to take Cas from him, but the looks alone will frustrate Dean. No one was allowed to look at what’s his.

He moved slowly to cover the angel’s body with his own without waking him and placed soft kisses all over his face affectionately. Castiel stirred a little but didn’t wake up. Dean smirked as he travelled down. He was going to wake Castiel up in another more pleasurable way.

Loud, obnoxious knocking startled him violently and he fell from the bed hard, while Castiel growled angrily at being awoken like that.

“Hey! Buster Brown, Hot Wings! Wake up!” Tony’s extremely annoying voice shouted from behind the door. “We have somewhere to be! No morning sex for you today. Move your fat asses from the bed. Come on!”

“Shut him up or I will turn him to ashes.” Castiel growled from under the pillow that he covered his face with, as the knocking continued.

Dean groaned as he stood up and pulled on his underwear, before marching towards the door and pulled it open.

“What?” he barked with a glare at the other man.

“Morning!” Tony grinned at him innocently. Obviously he already had his coffee or he’d never grin like this in the morning. “Good you’re awake. Come on, wake Hot Wings up. We have somewhere to be.”

“Somewhere? What are you talking about? We have no plans today.” Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He couldn’t deal with Tony without his coffee. It was too much work.

“Now we do. I will tell you but wear pants first. It will be awkward as hell to talk about it in your underwear. Don’t take too long!” with that, he turned around and walked away towards the kitchen.

Dean stared stupidly at his retreating back. “I live with crazy people.” he muttered under his breath, before closing the door to wear his clothes and try to pull Castiel out of the bed without losing his arm or head.

So much for morning sex.

***

Fifteen minutes later, Dean and Castiel entered the kitchen to find a cheerful Tony, a half asleep Sam, a scowling Natasha, a confused Bucky and a sheepish Steve, who was making an I-Am-Sorry-My-Husband-Is-Crazy breakfast.

Castiel immediately glared daggers at Tony, who flinched at its intensity but the huge grin on his face remained intact.

“Okay, we are here. Now, what’s gotten into you? Are you having a stroke or something?” Dean raised an eyebrow at the cheerful genius. “And where are the others?”

“Thor is in Asgard. He said there was an errand he needed to do. Bruce is still sleeping since he was awake all night working on something I was too asleep to understand. Clint is off somewhere around here, probably hiding.” Steve answered, offering Castiel a plate of pancakes with a nervous, apologetic smile. Obviously trying to prevent Castiel from murdering Tony.

“We are going back to New York today.” Tony announced with a grin, earning blank looks for his trouble.

“We just got here two days ago. Why do you want to go back so soon?” Sam asked in confusion.

“We are not going to Manhattan. We are going to Westchester.”

They blinked at him waiting for him to elaborate, but he just looked at them smugly. Damn him.

“Why are we going to Westchester?” Dean played along but Castiel could tell that he was barely hanging on to his patience.

“Remember that childhood friend I almost mentioned to you after the Skilleret hunt?”

“Yeah, a little? You never really finished the thought then. Besides, you have a childhood friend? I thought Rhodey is your oldest friend.”

“Well, he is old alright but not the oldest. I met Rhodey in MIT actually, not when we were kids.” Tony explained as he accepted the plate of pancakes Steve offered him with a smile and a quick kiss. “The friend I am talking about is none other than Charles Xavier, in case you heard of him.”

“Wait, Charles Xavier? World-renowned geneticist and a leading expert in mutation?” Sam asked with wide eyes.

“Yup, that’s the one.”

“You heard about him?” Steve asked curiously.

“Well, yeah. Don’t know what he looks like but heard a lot about him. I know he is the headmaster of a school he created for Mutants. He is your childhood friend?”

“Yeah, our parents did a lot of business together, so we spent our entire childhood together being ignored by our parents. We went to the same boarding school. Got bullied together and sassed our way out of trouble together. Being two rich, genius and sassy kids in a boarding school isn’t really easy. We only separated when I went to MIT and him to Oxford, but remained close, however.”

“I have a question I always wanted to know its answer, is he a mutant or just mutant friendly? From what I heard, no one really knew.”

“That depends on your opinion on mutants.” Tony looked over at them carefully.

“We have no issues with mutants.” Dean just shrugged easily. “We never really came across one, but we have no problem with them as long as they are good guys.”

“In that case, yes, Charles is a mutant.” Tony replied looking relieved at their answer.

“Awesome! What is his powers?” Sam asked excitedly.

“I guess you will have to wait to find out.” Tony smirked at him, looking like he was enjoying this way too much.

“Why are we just hearing about him?” Castiel wondered curiously as he ate his pancakes. Steve added honey to his, obviously as an apology for his rude awakening.

“We both have our own shit to deal with and life wasn’t exactly easy on either of us.” Tony shrugged, a wistful look passed on his face but then the huge grin reappeared on his face. “Anyway, I am telling you about him now because he called this morning. He needs my help with something. He thought it as an opportunity to catch up with me and finally meet you guys.”

“You told him about us?” Dean looked up in surprise, forgetting his pancakes momentarily, which gave Castiel the opportunity to steal one from him.

“Duh. I never really lost contact with him. We talk almost every day and obviously I told him about you guys and is dying to meet you.” Tony then glanced over at Bucky, who was eating silently through the whole conversation. “Even you, dude.”

Bucky looked up, startled. “Uhm, I’d love to. But I have plans.”

“What plans?” Steve narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him.

“Nothing you should worry about, Nosey Bastard.” Bucky muttered into his food and he was flushing a little.

Well, that’s interesting,

Everyone on the table exchanged looks before smirking a little and rounding on the poor man.

“Are you blushing? Is he blushing?” Dean leered at him almost comically.

“Yup, that’s a blush alright.” Steve smirked as he rested his elbows on the table to look closer at Bucky. “Why are blushing, Buck?”

“Are you going on a hot date?” Tony joined in grinning in amusement.

“I bet he is.” Natasha wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Come on, talk.”

“Yes! Alright?! I have a fucking date! Happy?” Bucky exclaimed then groaned in pain when Steve threw the swear jar at his head.

His exclaim only spurred them on.

“Look at you getting back to the world.” Steve grinned manically. “Someone I know?”

“No.”

“He is lying.” Castiel stated as he continued to eat calmly, completely ignoring Bucky’s betrayed look directed his way.

“Who is it? Come on, just say it.” Dean urged him on smugly.

“Nope.”

“Where did he get a date? He barely gets out and the only people he hanged out with beside us is Rhodey and Wilson. And Rhodey didn’t visit for a while, too busy going out with Pepper on their date nights or working. When did you get a date?” Tony wondered a little confused.

His words made Bucky blush even more and that got them to stop and think about what Tony just said.

Then it dawned on them all at the same time.

“No way.”

“No freaking way!”

“Oh my God!”

“You are going on a date with Sam Wilson!” Steve exclaimed excitedly.

“Dammit.” Bucky muttered with a wince.

Dean and Tony completely lost it as they almost fell on the floor from how hard they were laughing.

“I did not see that one coming.” Natasha chuckled.

“I thought you didn’t stand each other.” Sam commented in amusement.

“It always start like that.” Tony was grinning like a maniac.

“Yes, that just means there was way too much sexual tension they didn’t know how to deal with.” Castiel shrugged with a pointed look at Dean, who laughed even more.

“Oh my God, I can’t breathe!” Dean wheezed breathlessly as he laughed.

“Alright, I am out of here before I murder one of you.” Bucky announced with a scowl then got up from the table and marched towards the doorway.

“Don’t forget to wear protection!” Dean called out behind him gleefully.

“Yeah, we don’t know what Hydra did to you. You might end up pregnant or something.” Natasha laughed along with Dean at the look Bucky gave them.

“Seriously?!” he exclaimed in mortification.

“Come on, guys. Don’t tell him that.” Steve said seriously.

“Thank you!”

“Don’t tell him to wear protection. I want to be an uncle.” Steve continued with a smug grin.

Everyone stared at him for a second then almost fell out of their chairs from the wave of hard laughter that hit them.

“That’s it! Cas, you are officially my new best friend.” Bucky announced, looking at Castiel, who was the only one not laughing.

“But I am not ready to be an uncle yet.” Castiel frowned up at him, but the corner of his mouth shook as he suppressed his laughter.

This time, the others really hit the floor from laughing too hard.

“Even you?!” Bucky was too seconds away from ripping his hair out. “Sam! Come on, you are supposed to be the sensible one!”

“Don’t sweet talk me just because I have the same name as your date.” Sam retorted from between his laughter.

“I hate you all!” Bucky groaned and left the room while muttering under his breath as the others continued to laugh hysterically.

After they calmed down a little, they got back on their feet.

“Sam and Bucky. Wow.” Steve murmured with a genuine smile on his face. “I honestly didn’t see that one coming, but I couldn’t be happier for the both of them.”

“I know. It is nice to see him getting out to the world instead of hiding away.” Tony said with a happy smile.

“I am so going to tease the hell out of them until the day I die.” Dean stated with a huge grin, which made the others chuckle again. “Okay, I am officially awake now. When do we leave?”

“Right now. Go pack what you will need. I don’t want to miss any more time.”                

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Charles Xavier’s home was… probably one of the biggest things Castiel saw in the years he spent on earth so far.

Tony managed to make them move fast, that by noon they were approaching the entrance of Xavier’s school\home.

“Wow, that’s big.” Dean exclaimed as he looked around at the huge mansion that almost looked like a castle. Sam was also staring at everything in wonder.

The youngest Winchester managed to convince Natasha to come along, when she was too lazy to come, by whining to her about being a double third wheel if he came with the two couples only. That made Natasha come grudgingly after being affected by his puppy eyes.

Tony was grinning happily as he led them confidently towards the front door. He probably spent a lot of time here in his childhood with Xavier. They did seem to be very close. Steve just smiled affectionately at Tony’s enthusiasm.

The front door was wide open as students in varies ages walked around freely and happily. Not just any students. They were all mutants. Castiel could clearly see it as a young girl with butterfly wings walked confidently as she passed them, another one with green skin watched them curiously but didn’t seem worried or scared. No one gave them much attention as each one minded their own business.

Castiel was impressed already. Looks like Xavier managed to create a safe haven for these children that they didn’t seem to feel the need to hide or cower away. He made them feel confident about their differences.

He was already looking forward to meet that man.

They were now inside the mansion and the three Winchesters looked around in wonder.

“It is like a museum.” Dean murmured with a smile. “But a cool one.”

“I know, right?” Tony grinned back at him.

“You are so tall.” A little girl, probably ten, with blue streaks across her face, commented looking up at Sam in wonder.

“I am.” Sam smiled sweetly down at her and got down on one knee to be close to her level. “And you are so pretty. What’s your name?”

“Nora.” The girl replied with a shy smile, obviously liking Sam’s sweet way.

“That’s a nice name. It suits you.” Sam grinned at her and she giggled.

Dean fished around inside his pockets until he found a chocolate bar he probably was planning to eat later. He crouched down beside Sam. “Do you want chocolate?” Dean smiled gently at her as he handed her the chocolate bar.

“Thank you, sir.” The little girl said happily as she accepted the chocolate and with one last smile, she trotted away to her friends.

When the Winchesters were back on their feet, the other three Avengers were looking at them almost proudly.

“What?” Dean asked in confusion.

“Nothing.” Steve shrugged casually, while beaming at them.

“Tony!” an excited female shriek broke the moment and they turned to see a pretty blonde rushing towards them and practically jumping on Tony, who caught her in his arms with a happy laugh. “You finally decided to show your ugly face!”

“Gosh Raven, I could practically feel the love dropping from your words.” He rolled his eyes affectionately. The Winchesters exchanged confused looks but Steve didn’t seem bothered, so no romantic feelings were involved in this reunion then. “It is really good to see you again, kid. I missed you.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why it took you a while to visit? You already forgot you have a sister here do you?” the girl raised an eyebrow at him as she punched his shoulder hard.

“Sister?” Dean asked with an amused grin. “How is that possible? You are way too pretty to be his sister.”

“Haha, very funny.” Tony rolled his eyes, while the girl laughed. “Guys, this is Raven. Charles’ sister. She sometimes sees me as her brother too when she is in a good mood or wanting something.” She punched him in the shoulder again a little harder. “Raven, this is Dean, Castiel and Sam.”

“Oh, yeah! I heard about you. His big mouth talked a lot about you, guys.” She beamed at them, while stepping forward to shake their hands.

“All nice things, I hope.” Sam chuckled as he shook her hand.

“Well, he wasn’t lying about your height. I thought he was exaggerating but no. you really are a walking building.”

“Or a water tower with a wig.” Dean added smugly earning a delighted laugh from Raven and a scowl from Sam.

“And you don’t really look like a hairless ape.” Raven smirked at Dean, who smirked right back.

“He just couldn’t handle that I am the awesome one.” Dean wriggled his eyebrows at Tony who raised an unamused eyebrow at him.

“Well, I already like you.” Raven chuckled in delight.

“Of course you do.” Tony sighed with another roll of his eyes. Raven and Dean laughed before she moved towards Castiel.

“Castiel, I definitely heard nice things about you.” She smiled up at him and saw gratitude in her eyes. “Finally I got to meet you to thank you for what you did for him.” She gestured towards Tony’s chest area.

So she heard about Castiel removing the arc reactor for Tony.

Castiel studied her more thoroughly. Something was off in her appearance. Every few minutes he could see her form blur for a couple of seconds, where he saw a flash of blue before she looks normal again. He was the only one noticing with his grace enhanced vision apparently. It must be her mutation. She was hiding her true form. Maybe too self-conscious to show it. So Castiel gave her a gentle smile as he shook her hand.

“No need to thank me. You can call me Cas if you like.”

She smiled sweetly at him and nodded before turning to Steve.

“Well, well, the unfairly handsome Captain is here too.” She leered comically at him. “You still don’t want to dump him and live happily ever after with me?”

“Hey!” Tony objected with a mock pout. “Stop trying to steal him, he’s mine.”

“Ohh, I missed you too.” Steve chuckled as she giggled and hugged him just as tightly as she did with Tony.

She broke away from Steve a few minutes later and beamed happily when she saw Natasha.

“Red! Nice of you to show up.” She laughed as she hugged her too.

“Nice to see you too, blue.” Natasha rolled her eyes with a smile as she hugged her back.

“Come on, Charles is excited to see you. Let’s steal him away from his class.” She motioned for them to follow her.

“She seems nice.” Dean murmured to Tony.

“She is.” Tony confirmed quietly. “She is adopted. She had only Charles and I as she grew up. Almost all our childhood were spent together, so she sees me as a brother to her too.”

“Didn’t take you for the big brother type.” Dean teased with a smirk.

“Shut up. I can be brotherly when I want to.”

“Sure, dude. Whatever you say.”

They made their way through a long corridor, all the way Raven was chattering happily and talking to all of them at the same time and punching Tony every time he sassed her, much to Dean and Steve’s amusement. Castiel looked around curiously as they walked. The whole place was warm and welcoming. It wasn’t a mansion or a school. It was a home. A home made for these children and their teachers. It was nice.

They entered then a large room that were filled with students sitting in a circle around their teacher.

“Charles! They are here!” Raven exclaimed happily through the room.

Castiel immediately snapped his attention to the man Raven called out to as he turned around to look at them.

There were a few things Tony forgot to mention about Charles Xavier.  

He was a very handsome, well dressed young man with hair as long as Sam’s, a nice kind smile and blue eyes bright with compassion and wisdom that were beyond his years. The students were surrounding him and staring up at him like he was offering them the sun, the moon and the stars, which he probably was as far as Castiel could tell.

And most importantly, he was in a wheelchair.

From what Castiel could sense, he was paralyzed from mid-thighs down.

That last fact threw the three Winchesters a little since they didn’t expected it, and Tony, apparently, didn’t think it was important enough to mention.

Or maybe it was something Tony himself was constantly trying to forget.

Charles gave them a happy smile, before turning back to his students.

“This is it for today, my darlings. Don’t forget to read the third and fourth chapters. Go on.” He said in a heavy, nice, English accent, another fact Tony neglected to mention.

The students filed out of the room, while Charles rolled his way towards them, the happy smile still firmly on his face.

“Tony bloody Stark. Finally.” He beamed up at the other man, who approached him with his own happy smile. “I am afraid I have to say that I missed you. I hate you for making me admit that.”

“Shut up, you totally love me.” Tony laughed as he bent down to crush the other man in a tight hug.

“I never said that in my entire life.” Charles hugged him back just as tightly however. Castiel could even see his eyes water a little as he held on tightly to his childhood friend, who held on to him in return. Steve watched them with a small affectionate smile that was tainted a little with sadness.

“Liar.” Tony chuckled a little wetly. “I missed you too, Big Brain.”

Obviously, Charles’ life wasn’t much better than theirs. He apparently had bad days. Or bad years even from the looks of it. And an injury that trapped him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Castiel was wondering what happened to him.

The angel frowned a little, when he felt a gentle poke at his brain, he shook his head as he ignored it. It was probably nothing.

“Step back, Tin Can. Let me take a look.” Charles pushed Tony away a little to give him a once over, his eyes rested on his chest and a grin spread out on his face. “Well, will you look at that?” Charles patted Tony’s chest where the reactor used to be. “A brand new chest. Did you grew chest hair too or are you still as hairless as a new born child?”

“Look who’s talking. The guy who never managed to grew a beard that didn’t look like it belonged to a goat.”

“Says the man who has a ‘goatee’” Charles retorted with a very impressive raised eyebrow.

“Ouch, nice burn.” Dean and Natasha laughed, while Raven giggled.

“Now I remember why I didn’t come for a while. I hate you.” Tony mock scowled at Charles.

“Shut up, you totally love me.”

“I never said that.”

“Liar.” Charles laughed before rolling towards Steve with a gleeful smile. “Steve, I see you are still holding on and didn’t run away screaming yet.”

“You know me, I never back down from a challenge.” Steve joked as he bent down to hug the man tightly.

“He is quite the challenge, indeed.” Charles chuckled hugging the soldier back.

After he greeted and hugged Natasha, he faced the Winchesters with his apparently signature kind smile.

Castiel felt the poke again, but ignored it yet again to focus on the man.

“You must be the Winchesters I heard him babbling about for months now.” Charles smiled as he looked up at them. “Allow me to try and pinpoint you from Tony’s descriptions alone. However outlandish it was.”

“Why everyone keeps saying that.” Tony muttered in the back and Steve gave him a small kiss in consolation.

“You must be Sam. He certainly wasn’t overreacting about your height.” Charles commented looking up at Sam. “I am afraid my neck might snap from how high I have to look.”

“Oh, sorry.” Sam flushed as he pulled a chair and sat on it. “Better?”

“Wow, now I feel small.” Charles laughed as the others chuckled. “Nice to meet you, Sam. I heard a lot of good things about you.”

“Well, I heard better things about you.” Sam smiled as he shook his hand. “You are one of my role models.”

“Well, thank you. Hope you are not disappointed so far.” He joked playfully.

“Nope, still a role model.”

Charles flushed a little and turned to Dean. “You are definitely Dean. Even though you are not even close to Tony’s description. You don’t look like a hairless ape with a donkey’s tail.”

Dean looked up at Tony with a raised eyebrow and he just looked back at him innocently. “What? I described what I saw.”

“Ignore him, he is just jealous of my looks.” Dean smirked as he extended his hand to shake Charles’ “Nice to finally meet the guy little prick over there had been rambling about all day. Heard lots of good things about you.”

“I hope he didn’t share any embarrassing stories.” Charles beamed at him. “And nice to meet you too, despite the description, I heard very good things as well and I already have deep respect for you.”

Dean flushed at the praise and muttered a thanks under his breath.

When Charles turned his eyes towards Castiel, he yet again felt poking at his brain and then he started to pay attention.

There was something or someone poking at his brain, trying to breach it and failing.

Charles rolled towards him and Castiel was caught off guard at the amount of respect he saw in the man’s eyes. Respect and gratitude, all directed at Castiel.

“And finally, that makes you Castiel.” Charles started warmly. “An actual angel in every way possible. You have absolutely no idea how happy I am to meet you.” He extended his hand towards Castiel and he took it. “Thank you. Truly thank you. From deep in my heart. For everything.”

Castiel was speechless from how sincere he was. He felt all eyes on him. Dean and Sam’s gazes were filled with pride, while the others gazed at him in gratitude and respect.

It was strange. But a good strange.

He smiled back at Charles. “I am honored to meet you. You already have my admiration and respect.”

Charles grinned happily at him, while flushing at the praise yet again.  

After they talked for a few more minutes, Charles started to roll towards the door.

“Come to my study for more privacy. There is someone I want you three to meet.”    

     

 

             

 


	3. Chapter 3

They made their way towards Charles’ study, while the man himself was talking excitedly a mile a minute. Castiel seriously wondered how anyone around Tony and Charles could keep up with them in conversations, since they were both fast talkers. It must be exhausting to listen to them at regular basis.

That’s why Castiel toned out the voices around him and focused his attention on trying to find out what was poking his brain and study Charles as he talked.

The man was like Tony in so many ways. He was obviously intelligent and quite the genius. He was filled with energy and restless even in his wheelchair, he was spinning the chair around as he rolled to face them and rolled backwards confidently. He seemed to be confident in the way he was stirring his chair, which meant he was in it for years. The chair itself was quite advanced, more than any wheelchair he had ever seen, and Castiel could literally smell Tony all over it. Of course, Tony would build an advanced wheelchair for his friend to make him as comfortable as he could and help in any way possible.

Castiel’s eyes caught a glimpse of a ring in Charles’ left hand.

 _Married_.

Of course he is. Another fact Tony neglected. Seriously, Tony was terrible at delivering a full information. He was wondering how Steve didn’t murder him for it yet.

He was also wondering about Charles’ other half. They must be quite remarkable for someone like Charles to fall for. The man seemed like he was capable to love unconditionally and has a big heart. Whoever managed to get all this love must be special.

He looked over at Dean and smiled affectionately as he saw his husband engage in the conversation happily. Dean too has a big heart and could love completely and unconditionally. He was very lucky to have this love directed at him. To have Dean give him his big heart so trustfully. The most precious thing Castiel was ever given.

They reached the study then, which was a very big room with very nice furniture. It was well kept and seemed like Charles spent a lot of time here. It must be his sanctuary or something.

“Please, take a seat. The travelling must be quite tiring for you.” Charles said gesturing towards two comfortable couches and armchairs in one corner of the room.

When they sat down, a man entered the study then and Castiel snapped his attention on him.

He has a lean, tall body. About his and Steve’s height, since they both have the same height, he was handsome in a more dangerous way. His eyes where bluish grey and held a little coldness in it. His posture was guarded and firm. His mouth pulled into a tight line, neither smiling nor scowling.

Pretty much the absolute opposite of Charles in so many ways, Which Castiel suspected that must make him Charles’ significant other. 

One look at his ring finger confirmed his suspicion. Dean and he, Steve and Tony, were the solid proof that opposites attracts, so Castiel wasn’t surprised nor confused.

Tony’s smile changed into a cold scowl when his eyes landed on the man, who scowled right back at him.

Okay, that did confuse Castiel a little.

“Lehnsherr.” Tony greeted coldly.

“Stark.” The man greeted right back in the same tone.

Lehnsherr. Jewish. German. Nice.

Charles turned towards Lehnsherr with a big, happy, affectionate smile. Not noticing the glaring match between Tony and the man, or probably ignoring it. “Erik! You’re finally here! Come meet our new friends.”

Erik turned his eyes towards Charles and gave him a fond smile and the cold look vanished from his eyes replaced by warmth directed solely at the other man. Castiel almost got a whiplash by the sudden change in expression but it only confirmed his thoughts. These two were completely in love.

Erik made his way towards Steve first who stood up to greet him with a smile.

“Captain. It is very nice to see you again.” Erik shook his hand with a small smile. That probably indicates that he at least likes Steve. Who wouldn’t like Steve really? It is impossible to dislike this man.

“Likewise, Erik.” Steve replied politely, his smile still intact.

Erik greeted Natasha the same way then turned to Dean, who also stood up to greet him. Erik studied Dean for a few seconds carefully before extending his hand.

“Erik Lehnsherr.” Erik greeted formally.

“Dean Winchester.” Dean said as he shook his hand. “Tony didn’t tell me Mr. Xavier was married, so it is really nice to meet you.”

Erik’s eyes widened a little in surprise, while Charles raised his eyebrow as he looked at Dean interestingly. Tony just smiled secretively at Steve. That devil. He didn’t tell them everything to test how observant they were. Sneaky bastard.

“How did you-“ Erik started but Dean cut him off with a shrug.

“I am not blind, dude. Anyone with eyes could see it. The rings just confirmed my observation.” Dean smirked a little.

Erik blinked at him for a second, before giving him a half smile. “You are a perspective one.”

“I try to be.” Dean shrugged again.

Erik studied him again interestingly, then turned to Sam only to stare.

“You’re tall.” Erik said bluntly in a way of greeting, which made Charles face palm and shake his head a little.

“Thanks. I heard that a lot today alone.” Sam chuckled as he shook his hand. “Either way, it is nice to meet you too.”

However, when Erik turned to Castiel, the angel could literally see him becoming taut like a bow about to snap when he looked at him. Like Erik was expecting him to attack any second. But when Erik moved to hide Charles from Castiel’s view, it dawned on him. For some reason, Erik thought he might hurt Charles. Or he thinks Castiel was stronger than him and he might fail to protect his husband if Castiel suddenly decided to attack.

Castiel wasn’t even surprised or offended. He understands it. The overwhelming need to protect his significant other. He doesn’t really blame Erik for acting like this.

He gave him a smile in attempt to relax the man a little and extended his hand. “From the way you are acting I believe you heard of me.” He said quietly so only Erik could hear.

The other man looked at him carefully as he shook his hand. “I heard enough.”

“I hope it is enough to know that I mean no harm in anyway.”

“We shall see.” With that, Erik stepped away to walk to Charles and stand behind him like a bodyguard, but not before bending down to kiss the top of his head gently.

 That brief exchange was enough to give Castiel almost all he needed to know about Erik Lehnsherr. Obviously a mutant that suffered a lot in his life. Saw a lot of pain because he was different. That changed him into an angry man, who hates humans. Or doesn’t trust them easily.

There was one fact Castiel was sure about so far. Erik Lehnsherr was completely, absolutely, deeply in love with Charles Xavier. His first and last priority was Charles. He would probably set the world on fire if it will keep Charles warm.

Pretty much Charles and Erik were another version of him and Dean, and Steve and Tony. The strong love that went beyond anything. That makes you do anything to keep it. Even if you had to murder the world in the process.

Conversation started again and everyone were talking excitedly around him. Raven and Dean seemed to get along pretty well and bonded over embarrassing the hell out of Tony, who kept throwing insults at them. Sam was talking excitedly with Charles who was as enthusiastic as he was to meet them. Steve started a conversation with Erik while he was still standing protectively behind Charles. Surprisingly, he talked easily with Steve. He seemed to trust the soldier. It must have took him a while to do that.

However, there was a very obvious tension between Tony and Erik that no one in the room acknowledged and just chose to ignore it. Castiel doesn’t understand it. Tony should be happy that his childhood friend had someone that worship him like that. Why was he cold to Erik?

Charles had just turned to look at him, probably to drag him in his conversation with Sam, when the angel felt that damn poke again.

But then he knew who was poking his brain.

_‘Please, stop doing that.’_

Charles froze as Castiel projected the thought at him firmly. The mutant stared at him in surprise for a few seconds.

“Doing what?” Charles asked out loud, making the others look at him in surprise at the seemingly random question.

Charles apparently was testing how observant Castiel was. Alright then.

“Poking at my brain.” Castiel answered shortly. He could feel Dean and Sam’s questioning looks on him. “You are trying to breach my mind. I’d rather you don’t do that.”

“Breach your mind?” Dean repeated in confusion. Tony and Steve, however, were watching the exchange with small smiles. Erik just got even tenser.

“What makes you think it was me?” Charles asked genuinely curious.

“I could see strong waves emitting from your head. I didn’t pay attention to it at first, but when the poking got more persistent, I looked around more thoroughly and noticed the waves around your head.”

“You are a telepath?” Sam asked in awe as he understood what Castiel was saying.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” Charles replied with a bashful smile.

“This is so cool.”

The telepath chuckled before turning to Castiel again. “You have a very strong shield around your brain. It caught me off guard, when I heard complete silence from you. Minds are usually loud. Yours is another thing entirely. It is almost like your brain doesn’t exist. I, ashamedly, admit that I was trying to see why I couldn’t hear anything but I only managed to poke your walls.”

“You managing to poke it, indicates how powerful you are.” Castiel said quietly. “No telepath ever managed to even touch it. You are extremely powerful, so for your sake don’t try again. It’s dangerous.”

“Why?”

“If you breached my brain you might see something that is not for mortal eyes and that will damage your brain or in worst cases, might burn your eyes out.” Castiel answered bluntly.

Erik flinched and got closer to Charles, like he was two seconds away from grapping him and run away.

“Well, no one wants that.” Charles chuckled a little nervously. “Thank you for the warning.”

“So, you read minds?” Dean asked curiously. “Man, this is awesome. One of the coolest powers ever.”

“Glad you think that.” Charles smiled gratefully at Dean. “I didn’t mean to intrude your minds. I catch thoughts without trying and, no offense, I didn’t really know what you think about mutants. I had to be sure.”

“It’s alright, man. We get it. I’d do the same if I had your powers.” Dean just shrugged it off before smirking. “Can you see what I am thinking right now?”

Charles focused on him for a second before closing his eyes with a groan. “God, I certainly didn’t want to see that, thanks.” Dean just laughed loudly and smirked over at Castiel with a wink.

“Can you tell what my powers are too?” Raven asked Castiel curiously as she looked expectantly at him.

Castiel turned to her. He saw her form gets hazy again for a second and caught the blue glimpse again.

“This is not your true form.” He said bluntly making her flinch in surprise and Erik stared at him with wide eyes. Charles just studied him with an impressed look on his face.

“How did you-what?” Raven stammered as she stared at him in surprise.

“Your cells are in constant movement. Every few seconds your form gets hazy in my eyes and I catch a glimpse of blue before it reforms again. Also, you are tense and only half focused. Like you are keeping half your focus to keep this form intact. So my guess is that you are a shifter and your true form is related to the color blue?”

“Damn, you are good.” Tony chuckled as he shook his head in wonder. “I knew you’d be the one to know their powers.”

Raven still was staring at Castiel in awe and little nervousness.

“You don’t have to hide your true form, you know?” Sam told her with a kind smile. “It’s alright.”

She sent Charles a hesitant look, and he gave her a small nod in encouragement.

She turned her eyes back to the Winchesters and was still for a second then her form changed in a blink to show her blue skin, yellow eyes and red hair, then looked back at them carefully. Like she was expecting them to flinch away from her in disgust.

Instead, the Winchesters just grinned back at her which confused her.

“You know what? This is much better. I don’t really trust blondes that much." Dean stated with an easy smile. “And blue is my favorite color by the way.”

“Hey, wait a second. I am blonde.” Steve gave him a mock betrayed look.

“Dude, you cheat in poker! Why would I trust you after that?”

“I did not! You can’t prove it!”

“You did and I will-”

“I like redheads.” Sam interjected to shut them up and sent Raven a kind smile.

“Yeah, believe me he does.” Natasha confirmed to Raven with a wink Sam’s way.

Raven looked at them, completely caught off guard, then her eyes turned to Castiel uncertainly.

“You look beautiful.” Castiel said truthfully with a warm smile. “You shouldn’t hide your true form. It is what makes you special, so why hiding it?”

Raven’s face broke into a happy smile as her cheeks colored at their praise. “Wow, guys. Just-Thanks.”

“You can change into anyone?” Dean asked curiously and she nodded. “Awesome! Can you show me?”

She thought for a second before smirking. Her form changed and turned into Dean in less than a second.

“Wow.” Sam murmured in awe, while Dean stared.

“I look hot in that shirt!” Dean exclaimed happily. “Seriously, this is my new favorite shirt from now on.”

Raven burst out laughing as she changed back to blue, Charles smiled happily, Steve and Tony grinned, while Erik was looking at them strangely.

“What about me?” Erik cut in, directing his words to Castiel. “What do you think my powers are?”

“Something related to metal for sure, since I can literally feel every metallic thing in the room being pointed at me.” Castiel answered and raised his eyebrow at Erik, getting a little tired from the man already.

Everyone in the room froze and stared at Erik, who his eyes were huge as he stared gaping at Castiel.

“Wait, what?” Dean blinked in surprise.

“Lehnsherr!” Tony barked angrily.

“Erik.” Charles glanced up at him with a meaningful look. “We have been over this.”

Erik glanced down at Charles for a second, before sighing in defeat and Castiel could feel the metals in the room relax with him.

“How did you know it was me?” Erik asked looking back at Castiel again.

“I can see the magnetic field around you.” Castiel gave him a small smile. “Your powers are remarkable. I can sense how powerful it is. Could you show me?”

Erik hesitated for a second before nodding. Then, Charles’ wheelchair started to raise from the ground like it was having its own mind, until Charles face was level with Erik’s.

“Erik.” Charles raised an eyebrow at him but was smiling affectionately. Erik smiled back at him, his face softening and leaned in to give Charles a quick peck on his lips before making the chair do a full circle around the room then set it down back on the floor next to him. All the while Charles was smiling as he stared at Erik with pride.

“Okay, I know I said that a lot, but that was awesome.” Dean beamed excitedly. “You freaking control metal, dude. How awesome is that.”

Erik smirked at Dean before he pulled him up from his seat by attracting Dean’s belt buckle. Dean staggered to his feet, looked up at Erik then laughed.

“You know? This could come in handy.” Dean smirked and winked over at Castiel again, earning a rolling eyes from the angel and a groan from Sam.

Surprisingly, Erik chuckled a little at that but tried to hide it. Castiel thinks they will make good friends if Erik finally decided to trust them enough.

           

           

    

 

        


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the first time I write Erik's POV. I hope I didn't mess it up.

Erik hated meeting new people. Especially if they were humans.

It made him twitchy and uneasy. Just imagining the judging and scared looks they will surely have on their faces, when they knew about their powers.

Every.Single.Time.

Humans will never change. They will always look upon them differently. Just because they were different. Unusual. And stronger. They always will be afraid of what they don’t understand.

But Charles was excited. It had been awhile since he saw his husband this excited about something. He always loved meeting new people, and just the thought of seeing his childhood friend again was making him happy.

So Erik will suck it up and be on his best behavior. If it will make Charles happy, then he will fucking do it. Even if it kills him. Charles’ happiness was more important than his. It always will be.

He entered the study, trying desperately to relax his tense posture, but failing when all eyes turned to him as he entered.

As usual, Stark’s smiling face changed into a cold scowl, when his eyes landed on him. That didn’t help much.

He hated to admit it, but it actually bothered him that Stark didn’t like him that much. Not that he could blame him. Stark had every right to hate his guts. _He_ still hates himself. Why shouldn’t Stark?

But he was Charles’ closest friend. Might as well be his brother. Charles thought the world of him. He was one of the constant things in Charles’ life, and Erik knew that Stark was a good man. The fact that he didn’t turn away from Charles when his powers manifested said a lot about what kind of man he was. He doesn’t even blink when Raven changes her form since he was used to it all his life. Erik knew that he could trust him with Charles’ life. He’d would never do anything to cause him harm. 

Yes, Stark was a good man. A good friend. A good brother. He just hates Erik’s existence. And Erik thought he deserved that so he never tried to make it good with Stark.

However, Stark’s scowl made him almost chicken out of the room, but then Charles turned to him and gave him his beautiful, fond, warm smile that was always Erik’s and Erik’s alone, and he felt warmth spread through him along with Charles’ sweet voice in his mind.

_‘It’s alright, darling. They won’t bite you. I promise’_

He immediately felt himself relax a little as he smiled fondly at his beautiful husband.

Husband. He loved that word. They had been married for four years now and he still loves the sound of it. Best four years of his life. Actually, all his years with Charles, even before marriage, had been the best of his life.

Except of that one year though. The year he broke the best thing in his existence, because of his rage and hatred. 

He shouldn’t have thought of that now.

He didn’t even try to approach Stark with these thoughts in his mind, not that Stark would give him a second glance anyway, and made his way towards Steve Rogers first.

He truly liked the Captain. Might even dare to say that he trusts him. Erik never trust easily, but the good Captain managed to earn it. It was kind of hard to not like Steve Rogers really. He was a truly kind man with a good heart. He accepted them easily, when Stark introduced him to them all those years ago. He was awed by their powers and didn’t show any sign of resentment or fear. Just acceptance and admiration. Erik knew then that he will come to trust him fast enough.

He greeted Natasha Romanov next. She was good too, had been broken and reformed like Erik himself, but he still didn’t trust her that much. Even though she never showed any sign of not accepting them. He just didn’t knew her that long to trust her, but he knew she will readily stand by them if any situation needed her to.

Then, with a clenching heart, he finally turned to the Winchester family.

He heard a lot about them from Stark’s loud, excited ramblings when he talked about them in his phone calls with Charles. Erik was almost there during every phone call, just watching with a fond smile as Charles talked excitedly with his close friend.

So, yes. Erik knew enough about the Winchesters to make him nervous.

The brothers were humans, but not weak or fragile in any way. They were hunters. He knew what hunters are. Some of them hunted a few mutants along the way without a second thought. And the Winchesters were the most skilled and strongest hunters of all.

But Stark would never bring them here if they were against mutants, right? He would never put Charles or Raven in any danger.

But he remained cautious anyway.

He let his eyes study the oldest Winchester carefully, who just looked back at him confidently without getting nervous under his thorough gaze.

He was a very handsome man for sure, with a strong jawline, defiantly sharp green eyes and a powerful body. Maybe twice the size of Erik’s own body.

That made Erik a little uneasy.

“Tony didn’t tell me Mr. Xavier was married, so it is really nice to meet you.” The oldest Winchester-Dean-caught him off guard, when he said that in a casual way.

Charles told him that Stark didn’t tell the Winchesters anything about them, or about their powers. Saying he wanted to see if they will notice everything on their own. He and Charles made a bet on how fast the Winchester family will know about their marriage and their powers.

Looks like Charles was losing that bet very fast.

“How did you-“ Erik started but Dean cut him off with a shrug.

“I am not blind, dude. Anyone with eyes could see it. The rings just confirmed my observation.” Dean smirked at him confidently.

Erik hated to admit it, but he knew he will like the oldest Winchester fast enough. He was sharp, smart, observant and cocky. Just like Stark, but Winchester was rougher around the edges. His life must have been hard.

Also, he didn’t pat an eye at his marriage. Like nothing could surprise him anymore really.

He then turned to the younger one only to stop and stare.

He was tall. Like really tall. Erik had to strain his neck a little to look at him properly.

Despite his intimidating height, the Younger Winchester had kind, smart eyes and a gentle smile. Almost like a huge puppy with his floppy long hair.

Erik might like him as well.

He couldn’t delay it anymore. He told himself as he finally turned to face the last Winchester.

The Angel.

Erik was still trying to wrap his mind around that fact.

His eyes met the Angel’s and he felt himself tense. These were not eyes. These were laser beams breaching their way into his soul from how intense and deep they were. Eyes that have seen a lot. Eyes he could swear they glow a little in the room. He truly believed then that what was standing in front of him then was neither a human nor a mutant. He really did believe that he was facing an, honest to God, angel then.

He really hated how that intimidated him. But the Angel’s presence was truly intimidating without him even moving a muscle. Erik could feel the power emitting from his body from the sure way he was carrying himself. From the way his head was held up high. From the way he was staring back at Erik with intense eyes and unreadable face.

Erik knew then that if the Angel should ever chooses to attack, he won’t stand a chance against him. Not even with his powers.

He won’t be able to protect Charles from such an attack.

That thought made him even tenser as his protective instinct made itself aware. He moved carefully and as discreetly as he could to hide Charles from the Angel’s eyes, but knew that the Angel immediately understood what he was doing.

“From the way you are acting I believe you heard of me.” He said quietly so only Erik could hear, but he was giving him a small smile that made him pause.

“I heard enough.”

“I hope it is enough to know that I mean no harm in anyway.”

He sounded sincere. He had an understanding look in his eyes and there was no rage or disappointment at Erik’s obvious mistrust.

Erik didn’t know how to deal with that, but he still won’t give his back to him.

With that he returned back to his usual place behind Charles’ chair. The only place he felt truly belonged. That felt like home. Completed by Charles’ beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes being directed at him.

 _Home_.

Everyone started to talk again and he was relieved to have the focus off him for a while.

“How are your classes going? You were having a hard time when I last saw you.” Steve asked him curiously as he turned to him.

“Still adjusting, I am afraid. But at least I didn’t break down a classroom from frustration in a while, I guess that’s progress.” Erik answered with a small smile as he thought about his students. Yes, Charles made him a Lingual teacher. It was a struggle to control his easily provoked temper but he managed by time, and he truly liked his students. They were smart even if they were frustrating at times.

“I can imagine what you deal with. Dealing with teenagers is never easy. Or adults.” He sent a pointed look at Stark, who rolled his eyes at him and shoved him playfully. “See? Just like dealing with a baby.”

Erik couldn’t help but smile a little at them. Even with his tense relationship with Stark, he was genuinely happy for him for ending up with Steve. Stark had always seemed lonely and destructive in his years before Steve and after Afghanistan. Erik had met Stark for the first time a year before his kidnap, so he knew the man he used to be. He turned into a burdened man with a bag of guilt and self-loathing weighing down on his shoulders. It always saddened Charles to see his friend like that. A shadow of what he used to be. The Captain changed that. He carried the weights with him. Didn’t let him suffer on his own. Cared enough to know the man behind the arrogant act. Made him eager to meet his future, instead of constantly wishing to die.

Steve Rogers was good for Tony Stark. And always will be.

The day of their wedding was probably one of Charles’ happiest days in his life, besides their own wedding. His husband hadn’t stopped grinning like a maniac that day from happy he was for his oldest friend.

“Doing what?”

Charles’ loud, random question pulled him out of his musings and he turned with everyone else to look at Charles in confusion.

He was looking calmly at the Angel, who he directed his question to.

“Poking at my brain. You are trying to breach my mind. I’d rather you don’t do that.”

Erik’s hands clenched involuntarily as The Angel explained how easily he figured out Charles’ powers and was even able to block it out.

No one can block Charles. He was very powerful. How did he do that? And _Why_? What did he have to hide to build around his mind that strong shield? And why was it dangerous to pass it?

 “If you breached my brain you might see something that is not for mortal eyes and that will damage your brain or in worst cases, might burn your eyes out.”

Erik’s entire body flinched and he felt an overwhelming urge to grab Charles’ chair and hide him away in another country. He felt his powers acting up as his nervousness and protectiveness increased, every single metallic thing in the room was now vibrating a little and unconsciously pointing at the Angel’s direction.

Charles seemed to take the whole thing in a stride like usual and just laughed the whole thing off with a polite apology. Like usual.

The Winchesters’ reactions to Charles’ powers was kind of endearing and didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

Well, point for them. He hoped they keep up like that.

The Angel easily figuring out Raven’s powers without batting an eye, made Erik pause. He didn’t expect that one.

The Angel- _Castiel_ -was intelligent. Vigilant. He always respected those traits. And the way he was delivering his observations had no sense of arrogance or judgment in them. Just confidence.

Raven then showed them her true form and they didn’t even fucking flinch. They just looked at her in awe with kind smiles on their faces.

Erik didn’t know how to deal with that. He didn’t expect these reactions or complete acceptance of them.

Their words of praise to Raven made him smile a little. Raven was his sister in-law and he cared about her a lot. Seeing the happy look on her face at being easily accepted warmed his heart.

“What about me? What do you think my powers are?” Erik directed his question at Castiel. Needing to know how good he was at this.

“Something related to metal for sure, since I can literally feel every metallic thing in the room being pointed at me.” He answered immediately, raising an eyebrow at him.

Okay, Charles definitely lost his bet with Stark, he thought as he gaped at the Angel stupidly. What shocked him more was the fact that he was completely unbothered about all the metal directed at him. Like he knew that if Erik decided to attack he will be able to divert it easily. Like swatting a fly.  

  “Lehnsherr!” Stark’s angry bark made him flinch a little as it ripped him out of his erratic thoughts.

“Erik.” Charles glanced up at him with a meaningful look. “We have been over this.” He looked down at his husband, a little dazed. _‘There is no danger, Erik. Calm your mind.’_ His sweet voice washed over him calmly and he felt all the fight drain out of him. There was no point anyway.

When Castiel asked to see his powers, he was confused a little but obliged. He will never miss a chance at showing off his powers really. When he used it on Dean, he expected him to be angry or insulted, but instead he just laughed and joked about it.

He was surprised to find himself chuckling. Maybe the three Winchesters weren’t as bad as he thought. They might be human, but with good hearts.

Maybe giving them a chance won’t hurt him much.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

They split up then.

Charles suggested they will take a tour around the mansion. Surprisingly, Erik volunteered to tag along. That shocked even Charles, honestly.

Dean wasn’t blind. He could tell that the Metal Binder didn’t trust them yet. He didn’t really blame him. He seemed like he suffered a lot by humans, so honestly if he accepted them easily, Dean would have called him an idiot.

Sure, he was bothered by Erik’s obvious nervousness around Castiel, but he understands him. Even Dean got nervous about how powerful Castiel was when he first met him.

Dean knew that the guy was just trying to protect his husband and keep him safe. So he didn’t take offense from his actions. Besides, the mutant seemed like he was trying.

What really confused him was why Tony hated the guy. He thought that the genius should be glad that his oldest friend had someone that loved him that much and only cared about his safety and wellbeing. Why the hell did he hate him?

As for Charles, he was probably one of the nicest people he had ever met. The guy was just so…nice. Kind. A little naïve, yeah but not in a bad way. Even though it was obvious his life wasn’t easy, he remained hopeful with an easy, kind smile on his face.

Seeing the wheelchair caught Dean off guard a little. From Tony’s childhood stories with Charles, which he kept telling all the way here, it was obvious that Charles wasn’t in the wheelchair all his life. This was a recent occurrence.

Maybe that was why Tony never really mentioned Charles all those past months. Maybe Tony was trying to forget his oldest friend’s situation by not talking about it. This was a very Tony thing to do anyway.

Either way, the telepath seemed well accustomed in his chair from the easy, confident way he was moving with it without needing help from anyone. The chair itself had Tony’s touch all over it, so the genius must have designed it for that exact reason.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Charles saying that there was something he needed to handle before coming with them on the tour and that he will catch up with them soon. He rolled away and Tony followed after him without needing permission, after he gave Steve a brief kiss and a nod Dean’s way telling him to go ahead with the others.

So now they were walking around the mansion in the beautiful, huge garden surrounding it. He was ahead, walking besides Erik, Steve and Natasha a few feet behind them, while Sam was all the way back with Raven talking excitedly with her.

She was a sweet girl. Sassy and smart. A little insecure, which was understandable. Dean already liked her.

Castiel asked Charles earlier if he could fly around for the need of stretching his wings, who told him it was fine a little breathlessly as he stared with awed eyes at Castiel’s beautiful wings, when he revealed them and bolted up to the sky, leaving behind a gaping Charles, a squealing Raven and a dazed Erik. Dean let him have his alone time, he needed it when he was yet again mistrusted because of what he was. 

He looked over at Erik, who was walking silently next to him. Seeming deep in thought. That gave Dean the chance to study him.

Erik was pretty much the polar opposite of Charles. Angry. Resentful. Had trust issues and had absolutely no nice thoughts about humans. That explained their obvious strong love for each other. Opposites attracts anyway. They complete each other in every way. Dean knew that first hand.

Erik probably just tolerates the Avengers existence since they won’t do Charles any harm. Except for Steve, he was sure Erik likes Steve. Everyone likes Steve really. He was hard to hate. As for Tony, it was unclear how Erik feels about him. He didn’t show any emotion when he addressed the genius.

In fact, he only showed emotion for Charles and Charles alone.

“You don’t trust us much, do you?” Dean asked bluntly when he was tired of the silence.

Erik was startled a little as he was pulled from his own thoughts and blinked up at Dean for a few seconds.

“It is not personal to you or your family.” He answered quietly as they continued to wander around the mansion. They could hear the others’ voices behind them. “It is hard for me to trust easily.”

“I guess humans never really gave you a reason to.” Dean said in an understanding tone.

“You can say that.” Erik nodded briskly. “Humans fear the things they don’t understand. Especially if it was stronger than them. They don’t trust it, so they see it as a threat to them.”

“Sounds almost like how you reacted to Castiel.” Dean commented casually.

Erik paused as his steps faltered a little and turned to Dean with a confused frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you didn’t understand what Cas is. You got nervous and edgy because he is stronger, so you saw him as a potential threat to you and your loved ones.” He turned to Erik with a raised eyebrow. “Remind you of something?”

Erik was silent for a few seconds. Probably processing Dean’s words in his head.

“I didn’t think about it like that.” Erik muttered, frowning even more. “I just treated him the same way I hated to be treated with.”

“Hey, look. It is normal to fear what’s stronger than you. If you didn’t, I will probably question your sanity.” Dean shrugged lightly. “And I am not telling you to trust us immediately in the first meeting. Honestly, that will be stupid. All I am asking you is to not treat him like an outsider. Like he wasn’t welcomed. You could obviously tell that this is a very unpleasant feeling to have. Trust us when we proof that we are worthy of it. You have every right to be edgy and suspicious. Just don’t be a hypocrite and treat him like that.”

Erik stared at him thoughtfully and Dean met his stare dead on, unflinchingly. It felt like an intense staring match, until Erik looked away with a small nod.

“You are right.” He admitted grudgingly. “It is hypocritical of me. I let my paranoia blind my judgment. It won’t happen again.”

“Just so you could be sure, we have no intention to harm you, guys. And we never will.”

“I know. Stark won’t have brought you here if you are.” Erik shrugged as they continued to walk.

“You trust Tony?” Dean asked in surprise.

“I trust Stark with Charles’ life. Probably not with mine.” Erik’s lips turned down a little. “I know he won’t ever cause Charles any harm. As for me, he’d just let me die if he got the chance.”

“That doesn’t really sound like him.”

“Probably not with everyone else. Me on the other hand, he would.” Erik smiled hollowly. “I won’t really blame him then.”

Dean frowned as he looked at him carefully. He sensed there was a sensitive matter there so he didn’t try to preach it. “Well, I guess you don’t know him as well as you think.”

Before Erik could answer he was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. They both looked up to see Castiel flying by over them. He met Dean’s eyes, even from how high he was up and gave him a small smile, Dean immediately found himself smiling back at him as he flew away again. He lowered his eyes to see that Erik watched the brief exchange curiously.

“What?” Dean asked in confusion.

“Nothing. I just find your marriage very interesting.” He replied honestly.

“Interesting how?”

“You are a hunter. You hunt supernatural beings. Yet you married one of the most powerful supernatural beings. No hunter ever done that before. They just shoot and ask questions later. I am guessing you and your brother are not traditional hunters then.”

“We were. Not anymore though.” Dean chuckled a little as he rubbed the back of his head. “I actually stabbed Cas in the chest when we first met.”

Erik snorted. “Yes, that makes more sense actually. I’d have questioned your training and skills if you didn’t do that. A hunter can’t say ‘nice to meet you’ without stabbing first.”

“Oh yeah? How was your first meeting with Charles then? Was it sunshine and rainbows?”

“No, I was trying to stop a submarine with my powers, while I was underwater and he jumped from a ship to pull me out forcefully by yelling in my head.” 

“How romantic. No stabbing involved? Shame.”

“I pushed him away and yelled at his face. Does that count?”

“I will take it.”

 

 

 

   

 

    


	6. Chapter 6

“Is everything alright between you and Sam?”

Steve asked Natasha, brow furrowed a little in concern. 

“Never been better. Why are you asking?” Natasha answered with a nonchalant shrug.

“I just feel there is something off between you guys. Usually I see you with each other almost all the time. For the past week I barely see you together anymore. Something happened?”

Natasha was quiet for a few seconds and stole a glance behind her at Sam, who was talking with Raven a few feet away from them.

“I don’t know. He seems distant lately. Sure, we still have our intense nights together but he just seems distracted all the time. Like there was something on his mind he is trying to hide from me.” She said with a little frown on her face.

“Did you try to ask him about it?” Steve questioned carefully.

“I did. Several times. He dodged my questions like a pro. He must have learned that one from Dean.” She rolled her eyes, while Steve snorted a little.

“Yeah, you can never get a straight answer from Dean Winchester unless he wanted to.” Steve shook his head with a chuckle. “Looks like it runs in their family.”

“Do you think he is having second thoughts? About us?” Steve turned to her in surprise when he heard how unsure her voice was. Natasha never been like this. Ever.

“Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I am too much for him and he finally realized that. Maybe he finally saw the monster I am.” She murmured mostly to herself, probably unaware she said that out loud.

“Seriously? I thought you knew him better than this.” Steve raised an eyebrow at her. “You actually think that Sam cares about your past? He never cared at the beginning and he won’t care now.” He turned to her fully and gave her a small smile. “Talk to him. Maybe there is something bothering him. You are a pretty damn good interrogator, use your skills on him.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right.” She smiled a little. “I will grill the answer out of him some way.”

“I am starting to regret telling you to use your skills.”

***

Tony had many important people in his life now. In a moment of overthinking, he ranked and labeled them according to how close they were to him.

 There was four of them that were the closest and most important. The only four people in his life that he allowed them to see him at his most vulnerable and weakest moments. Who he perfectly knows would never judge him or look at him differently. Who he could talk freely with them.

One of them was Rhodey. He got Tony’s back all the damn time. Knew Tony at his worst and never turned away from him. Accepted him just the way he was. He knew he will always have Rhodey by his side willing to fight with him till the end. Will always be there when Tony needed him. He was his best friend. Always will be.

Then there was Charles. Tony knew him his whole life. Since they were a couple of sassy children that were too smart for their small age. They had been through a lot together. Tony was there when Charles got his powers at nine years old. Been there with him as he cried from the loud voices penetrating his brain, and calmed him when he kept screaming that he had gone crazy. Reassured each other when they were both ignored by their parents. Stood up with each other against the bullies that tormented their school life. Made crazy science projects together that always won first place at science fares. Charles was there when Tony lost his parents. He and Rhodey made sure he didn’t drown in his grief and anger. Charles wasn’t his friend. He was his brother. His sister was also his. Nothing will ever change that. They will probably would be still sassing each other on their death beds.

Then came Dean crashing into his life like a tornado and made himself comfortable there like an unmovable huge rock and constantly made his presence known loudly. Dean was a completely different thing from Charles and Rhodey. The hunter was almost another version of himself. Talking with him almost feels like he was talking with himself loudly. But instead of doing that and feel like a mad man he actually gets an answer in return. He could literally find himself talking to Dean about things he could never imagine saying out loud at some point. And Dean would just listen and take it as he understood completely, mainly because he almost all the time had the same things in him. They had the same issues. The same fucked up sense of humor. The same endless amount of pop culture references. The same way of thinking. The same lingering feeling of guilt that never seemed to go away. In short, Dean to him was more like a long lost twin brother that he never knew existed but needed him now that he knew about his existence.      

Then, obviously, Steve. Steve was…Everything. He held in his hands everything that Tony truly owns. His heart, his soul, his life. A look from him was enough to give Tony the strength he needed. A smile could send him to his knees. A touch would turn him into a puddle. His voice was his favorite melody, the best music in his ears. He was his beginning and end. He was his undoing. The only sure way to kill Tony Stark was by taking Steve Rogers away from him. The thought of losing him was one of the reasons he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. Without Steve, he probably would have ended his life years ago. It felt like his entire life since the moment he was born, moved him in the paths that would lead him to Steve. Apparently, the same thing happened with Steve, even when Tony crossed paths with past Steve and tried to change his fate he failed, and Steve still chose the path that led him to Tony’s arms. He didn’t know if it was destiny or fate or whatever and he didn’t care. Steve was his soulmate. In every way imaginable.

As for the rest of his family, they were all important to him and couldn’t imagine ever losing any one of them. Bruce was still his science bro, Clint was always a perfect ally when he tried to embarrass the hell out of anyone, Natasha loves him in her own scary way that will always caught him off guard, Thor was everybody’s friend, he was just a huge lovable puppy that was both deadly and cheerful, Bucky somehow managed to take a place in Tony’s life that the genius couldn’t really see him gone from it, Sam was always perfect to nerd out with over pretty much anything.

Castiel, however, held a very special, holy place in everyone’s hearts. He was pretty much the Avengers guardian angel. Literally. His code name changed from Fallen Angel to Guardian Angel. It fits him in every way possible. A fact everyone knew about the angel now. If you have Castiel’s friendship, then you have a steady, powerful wall behind your back that will always step up to hold you up whenever you needed it. Will always be there to have your back. Will keep you safe even if it threatened his own safety.

In short, if Castiel was your friend, he will willingly die for you.

As much as everyone absolutely hated the mere thought of losing him in any way, it just made Castiel’s place in their hearts get bigger.

He thought about all of this as he followed Charles, who was heading back to his study for some reason.

“So, what did you need me for, Fuzzy head?” Tony asked curiously as he leaned against the doorframe.

“What?” Charles looked up at him, looking little distracted.

“The reason you called me. You said you needed me to help you with something.” Tony clarified, a little confused. There was something on Charles mind.

Charles’ lips pierced a little as he busied himself by looking at a few papers on his desk. “Is that the only reason you came here, Tony?” he asked in a tight voice.

“What? No, I-“

“Because you appear to never come here anymore unless I have a reason to get you here. You have been like that for years. It is starting to get a little upsetting if I am being honest. Are you trying to avoid me?” Charles was angry. Charles rarely gets angry. Tony could literally count the times he saw Charles angry on one hand. Almost all of them were directed at him. So, this was bad.

“Of course not! It just-things has been crazy since the whole Avengers thing and-“

“You have been like that since the day you first saw me in the chair all those years ago, Tony.”

The words felt like a slap on his face coming so sharply from Charles that he flinched. Because it was true and he knows it. He just was hoping all that time that Charles hadn’t noticed.

Yes, Tony avoided seeing Charles face to face for some years. Felt a little more comfortable when they talked on the phone several times a week. That wasn’t because he didn’t want to be around him anymore. The reason was more than that. It was guilt. Absolute and horrible guilt.

Because Tony wasn’t there when Charles lost his legs. He was fucking kidnapped in fucking Afghanistan at that time. So when he got back, Charles was already in the wheelchair. And Tony wasn’t there.

If he was there, he could have done something. Stopped it from ever happening. But he wasn’t. And his oldest friend got stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

And Tony couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t handle seeing that cheerful man that was so full of energy and hope, trapped in that fucking chair.

So in a very Tony thing to do, he handled it horribly. He thought if he didn’t see Charles face to face as often as he used to, he’d forget about the chair. He’d feel like it was like old times again. When they were both young, healthy, ready to take over the world by their brains alone.

The fact that Charles understood what he was doing, it made Tony feel even worse.

He looked up at Charles to see him staring at him with pained eyes and Tony groaned.

“Dude, you told me you won’t get in my brain when I don’t talk.” Tony complained without any heat.

“You forced my hand and I am not sorry.” Charles said easily as he rolled over to Tony. He looked up at him thoughtfully for a few seconds. "You couldn't have stopped it, you know.”

Tony sighed as he went over to a couch and threw himself on it heavily. “You don’t know that.”

“No, I know. I know that there was nothing you could have done then.”

“I still should’ve been there.” Tony stared down angrily at his own hands.

“You were kidnapped in bloody Afghanistan, Tony. You didn’t do it on purpose.”

“No, but I-“

“Tony.” Charles cut him off firmly. “I know how you feel. I also feel guilty that I wasn’t there when you suffered on your own by your kidnappers. But there is nothing we could do. We both had our tragedies that was meant to happen to us at some point. We both came out of them a different men. Scarred but better. I made peace with it. I accepted it. You should too.” Charles looked at him with a small smile. “And maybe you should get easy on Erik too. He is trying his best.”

“Just because you forgave him that doesn’t mean I should too.” Tony glared angrily at his clenched hands. “I’d never forgive him for what he did to you.”

“It’s not like he did it on purpose.” Charles sighed tiredly.

“I don’t care.”

“I am not asking you to forgive him. Just take it easy on him. That’s all I ask.”

Tony pierced his lips as he avoided looking at Charles’ puppy eyes but then he sighed.

“Fine. No promises, but I will try.”

“That’s more than I hoped.” Charles smiled brightly at him. “Now, let’s talk about your very interesting friends and I will tell then why I called you.”

***

“So how exciting it is to be a hunter?”

Raven asked excitedly as she looked up at Sam. Damn, he was really tall. Taller than Logan even and he was the tallest in her life. “I mean the thrill of saving people from bad monsters, it makes you feel good, yeah?”

“Well, yeah. Of course it does.” Sam chuckled a little at her obvious excitement. She couldn’t help it. It’s been a while since she last met someone new and she already was starting to like the Winchesters. “But hunting is not as fun as it sounds. One mistake and you are a goner. And almost every supernatural being in heaven, hell and Earth want us dead so that’s definitely not fun.”

“Heaven? Aren’t all angels like Castiel?” she looked at him in confusion.

“Oh, hell no. they are nothing like Cas. No one there will ever be like Cas.” Sam shook his head a little. “Cas gave up on them for us. A long time ago.”

“Why did he do that?”

“Well, he fell in love with my idiot of a brother.” Sam grinned as he saw Cas and Dean making eyes at each other even with the angel still up in the air.

“So, it’s true! Dean and Castiel are really married! I thought Tony was doing a dramatic effect.” She stared with wide eyes at Dean, who was grinning up at Castiel with obvious fondness in his wide smile. “They seem to be really in love.”

“You have no idea.” Sam snorted a little.

Raven turned to look at him to study him more carefully. He was smiling at the exchange between his brother and brother in-law. She couldn’t blame him, they were pretty adorable really. Kinda remind her of how Steve and Tony act around each other. No wonder they were close friends.

“Can you tell me their story?” she murmured carefully. Sam turned to her in surprise.

“Sure. But that’s gonna take a while.”

“I am all ears.”

***

Erik was still walking beside Dean and they were talking a little more comfortably with each other now.

Mostly small talk with nothing important. But it wasn’t so bad. Erik was right, Dean was a sarcastic, sassy little shit just like Stark that Erik could barely keep up with his own sass.

Also there was obvious love between him and the angel Castiel. He thought at first that Stark was adding a dramatic effect about their marriage, but Erik was proven wrong. These two were completely in love if the soft, fond smiles they kept sending each other’s way even with the distance between them was anything to go by.

H didn’t even know that Angels were capable with such love. He heard about Angels before and knew they were emotionless, merciless dicks. That was why he was wary of Castiel. But so far, the angel was showing as much emotion as all of them. Maybe even more than Erik himself.

He stopped walking when he saw Castiel landing a few feet away from them. A little girl Erik knew from one of Charles’ classes approached the angel carefully, while staring in wonder at his huge wings, a few others were watching from a distance.

“You have pretty wings.” The girl murmured shyly to the angel, who looked down at her in surprise then smiled gently and crouched down on one knee to be at her level.

“Thank you. That’s sweet of you to say.” He said sweetly making the little girl giggle. “Would you like a ride?”

The girl nodded excitedly and Erik was about to step in but Dean placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. When Erik looked at him Dean just gave him a look and a raised eyebrow. So Erik watched Castiel taking the girl in his arms with tense shoulders.

Castiel bolted back to the sky with the little girl, who immediately started to laugh in ecstasy as the angel started to make turns in the air gracefully.

When he returned back on the ground this time, all the children that were watching from a distance came running to surround him asking to be next, while Castiel just chuckled as he took two kids this time and flew again. The children’s happy laughter was louder this time.

Erik wasn’t sure how to deal with this really. If the angel was truly an emotionless, merciless dick he won’t have bothered to do such a kind act to make a dozen of mutant little children happy.

He could feel a headache starting behind his eyes and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. This day keeps playing with his nerves. Every second, he was proven wrong about any assumption he made about the Winchesters and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Humans aren’t usually like this. Or the humans Erik met anyway.

He no longer knew what to think.

***

“What do you think of them so far?” Tony asked Charles curiously as they made their way to catch up with the others.

“From what I could tell so far they are good men with kind hearts.” Charles praised with a smile. “I didn’t get in their heads to check if that’s what you are implying.”

“Wait, really? Usually you take a look inside anyone who you meet just to make sure they have no hidden intensions against you or your children. Why this is different?” Tony looked down at him in a confused surprise.

“You brought them here to meet me. You trust them. That’s good enough proof for me.” Charles shrugged nonchalantly. “I trust your judgment. Always had, always will.”

Tony blinked down at him before shaking his head with a chuckle. “You are always good with words.”

“It is my secondary mutation.” Charles grinned smugly up at him.

“Well, you still have the worst pickup lines I ever heard. I have no idea how did you manage to get laid at all.”

“I am adorable, so people usually ignored my terrible lines and focused on that fact.” Charles looked up innocently at him. “I was always the adorable one, while you the wild, loud one.”

“Excuse me? You were just as wild. Don’t you remember the amount of times we got wasted so much we slept in parks?”

“No, I don’t remember that.”

“I have pictures.”

“If you show them to anyone I will wipe your brain and make you believe you are a six year old little girl. Imagine how lovable you will be.”

“Yeah, okay. No pictures. Got it.” Tony shuddered at the mere thought of what Charles just said.

By then, they were out in the garden when they heard the happy laughter of children. They followed it only to stop and stare at the scene.

Castiel, with over a dozen of children around him, carrying each two in his arms and flew up to the sky, much to their pleasure.

Erik was standing with the others a few feet away, watching with a conflicted look on his face. Dean with a proud fond look. Sam, Steve and Natasha were grinning in pride. Raven was staring with wide eyes.

Charles blinked at the scene and felt a small smile appear on his face as he watched his children laugh happily.

“You know what, Tony? I could really see why you spoke so highly of him.” Charles murmured as he watched Castiel. Respect already bubbling in his chest.

“I knew you will see it soon enough.” Tony said with his own proud smile on his face.    

 

  

 

  

 

 

     

         


	7. Chapter 7

“Okay, spill it. What do you need my help in?”

Tony asked Charles with a raised eyebrow, while they were having dinner after spending the whole day walking around the mansion talking about everything and anything. Honestly, he didn’t know Lehnsherr could cook that good. He actually cooked for everyone, since Charles was like Tony, a complete disaster in the kitchen and Raven would rather die than cook. The weirdest part was that Erik did it without complaining and even had a constant fond smile on his face as he watched Charles eat happily.

Tony wasn’t blind. He knew that Lehnsherr was completely in love with Charles and would readily die to keep the telepath safe. Tony just couldn’t forget or forgive the Metal Binder’s past mistakes. Charles could forgive him all he want. Tony just couldn’t.

He trailed his eyes around to look at the others as he waited for Charles to remove his focus from the food long enough to answer. Steve was next to him, eating happily at his food since he didn’t eat properly all day, and Tony couldn’t help but smile at the happy grin on Steve’s face at finally satisfying his hunger. Sam and Natasha were silent, which made him stare in confusion at the obvious tension between them. Dean and Castiel were talking quietly to each other as they ate, tuning out everyone around them as they smiled and whispered affectionately to each other. Erik was too busy staring at Charles fondly, while the telepath was enjoying his food.

“I think Cerebro is acting up.” Charles finally answered Tony’s earlier question.

“What makes you think that?” Tony asked in confusion.

“I don’t know. Tech isn’t my expertise in case you forgot. I just feel it emit strange kind of energy every time I use it. It is getting stronger every time so I stopped using it until I know what’s going on.”

“Why didn’t you tell Hank about it then?”

“Hank is away with Logan to help a friend of mine in England. You build it with him so I thought you might be able to understand what’s wrong with it.”

“I’m sorry, but what is Cerebro?” Sam asked in confusion as he looked up at them. “I feel like I lost half the conversation.”

“It is a machine.” Charles started to explain with a small smile. “When I am connected to it, I will be able to find and connect to any mind I wish on any place on Earth no matter how far they are.”

“No way.” Sam stared at him with wide eyes.

“That must make it hard for you to sneak out anywhere to do something stupid without being caught, right?” Dean smirked at Erik as the conversation caught his attention.

“I think he doesn’t need Cerebro to find me anymore. He has a sixth sense or something that could smell it all over me when I try.” Erik smiled a little, while Charles raised an eyebrow at him smugly.

“I think Cas and Steve also have one of those.”

“You don’t have to be a mind reader to know really.” Steve shrugged not even looking up from his food. Tony couldn’t deny it, Steve did seem to sense it when Tony was about to do something stupid. Even Cas did it fluently with Dean all the time.

It was scary really.

“Alright, then. I could try to help.” Tony shrugged as he frowned in concentration. “I don’t have its schematics though. I told JARVIS to hide it safely. So, I have to go back to the Tower to get them and get some things I will need too.” He turned to Dean then. “And you are coming with me.”

“What? Why me?” Dean blinked up, startled since he was too busy focusing on his husband than listen to the conversation. 

“I need muscle to help me carry some stuff.”

“Steve has muscles.”

“Steve is not going anywhere.” The soldier said calmly, yet again not bothering to look up from his food.

“Okay. What about Ca-“ he cut himself off when he turned to Castiel only to find himself face to face with Castiel’s raised eyebrow. He scowled before sighing in defeat. “Fine. I will go with you.”

“That’s the spirit.” Tony smirked at him triumphantly.

“You don’t have to go right now. I am in no rush.” Charles assured them as he watched the exchange in amusement. Erik looked at him in protest and was about to voice it but was interrupted.

“We will go in the morning. I have to see what’s wrong with it in case it was dangerous or affecting you in a bad way.” Tony told him firmly. Erik’s shoulders relaxed. Looks like the whole thing with Cerebro was making him worried. Tony frowned a little. If Lehnsherr was worried then whatever was wrong was big and affected Charles somehow.

Hours later, spent talking and laughing loudly as each one talked about embarrassing moments in their lives. It was really nice to see almost all the people he cared about in his life was in one room, laughing and getting along very well. Even with his own opinions of Erik, he was actually glad that he was getting along with Dean. After all, if Erik liked the Winchesters, he won’t try to kill one of them and get killed in return by Castiel. Charles would be very upset about that.

Soon enough, Charles started to yawn more frequently but was resisting sleep as much as he could, obviously. When he started to nod off a little as he talked, Erik raised a meaningful eyebrow at him and he sighed in defeat.

"I guess I can't resist sleep much longer I am afraid." He announced with small frown.

"You are not the only one." Castiel commented as he smiled fondly at Dean, who was sleeping soundly on his shoulder. Sam and Natasha were leaning on each other also sleeping, while Tony was trying so hard to keep his eyes opened.

"We should call it a night." Erik murmured softly to Charles who nodded.

"Tony's room is still there, you and Steve can use it. I prepared two rooms next to it for you. Raven will show you to it." He nodded to Raven who stood up with a smile.

Castiel woke Dean gently and helped him up, while Steve did the same with Sam and Natasha as he helped Tony up in return.

They called their goodnights to Charles and Erik before leaving the room behind Raven.

After they were alone in the room, Erik leaned down to heave Charles up in his arms effortlessly like always.

"You know you don't have to do that, right?" Charles murmured drowsily even as he wrapped his arms around Erik's neck.

"I know." Erik whispered gently and pressed a sweet kiss to Charles' hair, before walking out of the room with the telepath in his arms and his chair floating behind them by his powers.

***

Erik rested Charles, who was already soundly asleep, gently on their bed. The excitement of the day must have worn him out. He carefully removed his shoes and clothes to not wake him up. Then he got undressed and did his bedtime rituals before getting under the covers next to his husband.

He turned on his side and watched Charles as he slept with a small smile on his face. The telepath always looked peaceful and beautiful when he sleeps. Erik loved watching him until he falls asleep himself.

He needed Charles' reassurance today more specifically. He was a little confused and lost on how to feel about their new visitors. This confusion rattled him. He learned to shut down his feelings, he was good at it, until Charles crashed into his life. So, for years Charles was the only one who managed to coax all his emotions. In fact, he only showed emotions for Charles only. To everyone else he was just cold and emotionless. He was comfortable with that. That he could handle and understand.

Unfortunately, he discovered that these visitors managed to pull emotions from him. Stark managed to make him frustrated and wanting a hole to swallow him. The Winchesters confuse and surprise him. He hated that. He didn't know how to deal with it.

 He sighed and trailed his eyes on Charles' soft features. He sometimes wished he was more like his husband. Able to handle anything and go along with it without flumping around in confusion. Take everything in a stride without any hesitation.

But he wasn't like Charles. He was his polar opposite. Made to complete each other in every possible way. Two sides of the same coin, and he couldn't have it any other way.

"You are thinking too loud." Charles' soft voice preached his thoughts and Erik looked down to see his beautiful eyes gazing up at him with a sweet smile. He looked so beautiful.

"Sorry my thoughts woke you up." He murmured a little dazed from the love directed at him in those eyes. The love he never imagined would be for him and can no longer live without.

"It is quite alright. I don't mind waking up to hearing you thinking about how much I complete you." Charles' smile widened a little smugly.

"That wasn't the only thing I was thinking about." Erik raised an eyebrow with a little quirk to his lips.

"I know." Charles then scooted closer to Erik, who rested on his back to accept Charles' very welcoming presence in his arms. “How about you focus on me instead?” the telepath’s hand trailed along Erik’s chest, while he glanced at him from under his lashes. “It might make your mind rest a little.”

Erik trailed his hand gently through Charles’ hair and watched him lean towards his touch with a soft sigh. He was beautiful. More beautiful than Erik deserves.

“You deserve the world, love.” Charles murmured, while leaning forward to press his lips against his, because of course he heard that.

“You call me love.” Erik whispered against his lips.

“Yes.”

“That’s horribly English of you.” Charles scoffed, while Erik grinned up at him before flipping them so he was the one looking down smugly at Charles. His grin softened into a smile as he stared at him, always struck by how gorgeous his husband was.  

“Are you going to take me or you just going to stare down at me like a sappy idiot?” Charles raised an eyebrow at him with a small smile before rolling over on his stomach.

Erik leaned forward and trailed kisses from his shoulders down to his back, his hand slipping between Charles legs. His unmoving legs.

His breath stuttered at that thought and Charles just leaned back towards him, obviously hearing his thought again.

Somewhere along the years, their minds linked around each other. Charles’ presence was a constant thing in the back of his mind spreading warmth there and Erik just got used to it and can’t live without it anymore.

He was now up to three fingers inside Charles, who was panting while Erik kissed all over his neck. Marking him. 

“Come on, Erik. Please.” Charles panted, pressing his face into the pillow, which he was clutching tight in his hands.

Erik removed his fingers, then covered Charles’ body with his own and pressed his chest against his back while wrapping his arms around him. “You might want to keep it down. We have guests.”

“Just bloody do it, you-“ the rest of the sentence changed into a moan when Erik slipped inside the telepath swiftly, successfully shutting him up.

He pressed his lips against Charles’ while he started to thrust deeper and harder. Charles always like it hard. Something Erik would always love to oblige.

Soon they were panting against each other’s mouths as the thrusts got harder and faster until they moaned their names as they came together.

Erik made sure to collapse on his side so he won’t crush Charles by his weight. As they rested, Erik kept staring at Charles’ flushed face with his disheveled hair and swollen, red lips.

He hurt him once. He was deathly afraid of hurting him again.

Or worse, failing to protect him at some point. He’d rather die than seeing that happening.

Charles pushed him so he was laying on his back, he   rested his head on Erik's chest right above his heart. "Sleep, darling. Rest your erratic mind."

Erik sighed and placed a lingering kiss on the top of his husband's head. "Goodnight, liebeling."

***

Steve got up first in the morning like always, after he managed to untangle himself from Tony's arms without waking him up, he made his way to the kitchen almost on autopilot.

He found Erik there already, making a huge breakfast enough to feed an army, with a small satisfied smile on his face. His night must have been nice, unlike his.

"I see you are an early bird too." Steve commented as a greeting as he made his way through the big kitchen.

"Someone has to. I don't really trust Charles in the kitchen all that much." Erik replied without looking up from his task.

“I know what you mean. Tony actually managed to blow up the kitchen once by boiling water.”

“Their childhood together must have been filled with burnt food and take outs.” He murmured almost distractedly.

Steve looked over at him from the corner of his eyes as he made Tony’s coffee since he knew he will wake up any minute now asking for it.

He knew the reason why Tony can’t stand Erik. Even though he absolutely understood Tony’s reasons, Steve decided to give Erik a chance when he saw that he was trying to redeem himself in any way. He believes that everyone deserves a second chance. Even if they messed up pretty badly.

Erik’s obvious love for Charles was what made Steve decide to give him that chance. Tony didn’t think it was enough.

“Do you trust Castiel?” Erik asked suddenly out of nowhere, making Steve look over at him a little startled by the sudden question.

“Sorry, what?” he asked to make sure he heard the question right.

“Castiel. The angel. Do you trust him?”

“Of course.” He replied immediately without thinking.

“With your life?”

“And with Tony’s.” Of course he trusts Castiel with his life and Tony’s. Specially Tony’s, since it was more important to him. There was no doubt in his complete trust in the angel. “He saved our lives way too many times. Almost died for me more times than I could count. I wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for him.”

“You are not scared of him?” Erik looked over at him curiously. “Of who he is?”

“No. never was and never will. I don’t care if he was a human or an angel. He is a good friend. A brother even. I know he will always have my back and I will have his. Nothing will ever change that.” Steve stared Erik right into his eyes as he said that. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wanted to know your opinion of him.” Erik just shrugged as he turned back to his task. “I know you have good judgment in people. If not, you would have ran far away from Stark by now.”

That kind of caught Steve off guard. He never thought that Erik trusts his judgments like that. What surprised him even more was his opinion of Tony.

“I never really asked you this but I need to know. You don’t hate Tony?” Steve asked as he watched the Metal binder carefully.

“No, I don’t.” Erik answered without looking up. “Just because he hates my existence doesn’t mean I have to hate him in return. I know his reasons. I will not defend myself. I know he is a good man and he is just looking out for his friend. I am glad Charles has someone like that actually.”

Steve blinked at him for a few seconds. “You have changed. You became less…angry and bitter. You are calmer now. More accepting. That’s a good change.”    

 Erik glanced at him from the corner of his eye before nodding in thanks and focused his attention to finish the huge breakfast.

  

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Dean woke up to find that everyone was already awake and in the kitchen, the students started to move around the mansion to their morning classes.

Apparently, like Tony couldn't function without his coffee and wasn't even considered human without at least three mugs in the morning, Charles couldn't formulate a complete line of thought or even talk without at least five cups of tea, which was very British of him if you ask Dean really. Erik just refilled Charles’ cup when he finishes it, almost without thinking and always got a happy smile in return for his efforts.

He blinked stupidly at the familiarity of that as he handed Castiel his sixth mug of coffee and got his own happy, warm smile in return. Castiel didn't sleep well last night so he was extra grumpy that morning. The funny thing was that Erik, Steve and Dean kept walking around the kitchen to hand their husbands their needed amount of their morning beverages so naturally it was fucking hilarious.

It was a hard night on both Dean and Castiel. At some point during the night, the angel woke up shaking violently and murmuring pleads under his breath over and over again the same fucking sentence: _'Please, let me die._ _'_

     Dean found out for a while now what Castiel's biggest fear was and what makes him wake up like this every few nights. The fear of being the only survivor. Of outliving everyone, including Dean, and not having a way to follow. To have to live on alone. According to Cas, the nightmare always ended the same way. The angel completely alone in a burning room, the flames eating away the bodies of his family while he stood there, untouched by the flames and unable to do anything. Making him wake up wishing to die.

It almost kills Dean each time to hear Cas whispering that fucking sentence repeatedly and frantically like that. He was one of the few people who were aware that Castiel wasn't invincible. That he had fears, issues and nightmares just like the rest of them. Most people just hear the word 'Angel' and they think him a steady rock that can never be broken. Only a few that knew that even though Cas was a steady rock, he can also be bend and crack.

Cas will always be Dean's rock. Even in his weakest, most vulnerable moments. However, he was Castiel's too. They bend and crack for each other. There is no changing that. Therefore, every time he wakes up like that, Dean will be there to reassure him and pull him back from his head. Every time.

He leaned down to kiss the top of his angel's head gently as he handed him his seventh cup of coffee, earning a warm, tired smile in return. The smile that always managed to make him weak in the knees.

"I have a morning class I need to head out too." Erik said while standing up from the table. He took Charles' hand gently in his, then leaned down to kiss the knuckles sweetly before moving up to kiss his lips chastely. "I will see you later, liebling."

"Alright, darling." Charles murmured with a sappy smile that remained etched on his face as he watched his husband leaving the room, before sighing. "I have a class too, I am afraid. Feel free to be anywhere around the mansion until I am done." He told the others before rolling out of the room.

"I think we should head off to the Tower now to not waste time." Tony announced looking over at Dean, still a little drowsy. His night must have been rough too.

"Yeah, okay." Dean nodded, while standing up from the table too.

"Don't be late." Steve raised an eyebrow meaningfully at Tony as he said that.

"You will not even notice that I am gone." Tony chuckled as he leaned over to kiss Steve's cheek sweetly.

"I won't take long." Dean murmured to Castiel while squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"I know." Castiel just smiled up at him.

Dean gave him a quick kiss before leaving the room with Tony.

***

"I still have no idea why did you want me to come with you." Dean grumbled a few hours later when they reached the tower and were making their way towards Tony's workshop.

"No reason. Just didn't want to come alone." Tony shrugged as casually as he could, while trying to avoid Dean's raised eyebrow.

"What? You think the tower is haunted when it is empty or something? You want a big strong hunter to chase the ghosts away? I am pretty positive they would have scurried away if they faced one of Steve's protective glares. These things are lethal."

"The tower isn't haunted." Tony sighed in frustration. Then they both stopped when they heard loud banging coming from the gym followed by a slight shaking of the floor. "Or I think it isn't anyway."

"It wasn't haunted the last time we were here and I am guessing you haven't killed anyone here while we were leaving. You'd have screamed it to Steve's face an hour later from one look from him." Dean whispered as he made his way carefully to the gym's door, while Tony followed quietly behind him.

"What? I don't immediately spill my beans if Steve looked pointedly at me!" Tony objected indignantly. Dean turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, maybe a little, but that means we have a healthy marriage with no secrets between us."

"That's actually a good point." Dean rolled his eyes at him before they heard another bang coming from the gym followed by a deep moan.

"Okay, this is getting creepy." Tony murmured with a frown.

"Are you sure there is no one here?"

"Yeah, I am sure. Bruce is back in the bunker with Clint, Thor is in Asgard while Barnes is probably banging Wilson back in his place, if their date went well that is." 

"Thanks for the unwanted visuals." Dean shuddered before he made his way towards the gym's closed door. "Let's see what's going on in there." When he tried to open it, he realized it was locked. "Can you open it?"

Tony walked over and checked the screen next to the door and fiddled with it for a few seconds before the door swished open.

They looked inside only to freeze in shock and scream in horror at the same time.

"Holy fucking shit!"

"My eyes are burning! My eyes!"

"Forever seared in my brain! Forever!"

"How did that even happen?!"

Thor and Bruce sprung apart at their horrified screams and looked at them like deer caught in headlights.

Because they were fucking making out on the floor, half-naked. Well, Bruce was still half-naked, while Thor was as nude as the day he was born and he wasn't making any move to cover himself as he stood proudly in front of them. 

They were all frozen as they stared at each other in shock. No one dared to move a muscle.

"My friends! It is good to see you are well!" Thor rejoiced suddenly breaking the shock loudly and cheerfully while being very comfortable in his naked statues.

His loud voice made Dean and Tony flinch out of their shock and blink at each other in confusion, before staring Bruce down with identical frowns on their faces.

"Hey, guys." Bruce cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly at them. "Well, I guess now you know."

"How long has this been going?" Tony asked a little dazed.

"A few months."

"Since the day we switched bodies because of that cursed statue. That was such a remarkable day." Thor announced with a happy smile.

Tony and Dean turned to him in shock only to regret it immediately when they saw his still very naked state and stared at Bruce instead.

"That was more than seven months ago!" Dean exclaimed.

 "How did I not notice that?!" Tony's eyes were wide. How did he not see this relationship all those months?

"I thought you were with Jane?" Dean asked without looking at Thor.

"I was, but we didn't agree on many things and thought it'd be best to be just friends." Thor shrugged and walked closer to Bruce to wrap an arm around his shoulder as the other man stared nervously at the two men.

"Is it.. is it serious or you just releasing pressure?" Tony asked carefully as he watched Bruce lean closer to Thor's body.

"it's-" Bruce glanced at Thor for a second and they exchanged a fond smile, before turning back to them. "It's very serious."

"Why didn't you tell us then?" Tony asked feeling a little hurt.

"You thought we will be weirded out or something?" Dean frowned indignantly at them.

"No! We-I just-" Bruce started before sighing in defeat. "We were going to tell you. It's just never was a good time. This is very important to me. To us. I just didn't know how to announce it that's all."

They blinked at each other for a few seconds, still trying to take all of this in.

"I'm sorry, I have to know." Dean shook his head as he tried to wrap his head around something while facing Thor only to stare at the ceiling instead. "Are you with just Bruce or with both Bruce and the big guy?"

"Both." Thor grinned proudly.

"So, every time you were sparring together you actually were-"

"Yes, yes we were." 

"Oh God, why did you ask that I didn't want to know." Tony groaned loudly. "Now I have to burn down this gym!"

"I had to know! I'm sorry! I had to!" Dean shook his head again violently to chase the visuals away.

"Anyway, I just want- for fuck's sake, Thor! wear a fucking pants! My neck is fucking cracking from staring at the fucking ceiling! Fucking dammit!"

"That's way too many fucks in one rant." Dean muttered while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I will pay for the fucking swear jar!" he took a calming breath when a chuckling Thor finally wore his pants. "Anyway, I am really happy for you guys. I am still pissed you didn't tell me before, but happy nonetheless."

"Yeah, you deserve to be happy, really." Dean smiled crookedly at them. "As long as I don't see anything again, I am good."

"Thank you, guys." Bruce smiled gratefully at them while Thor grinned happily.

"Thank you, my friends! Your blessings means the world to us!" he boomed loudly as he made his way towards them with his arms open wide to crush them in a hug.

"Oh, No."

"Don't you dare!"

They both shouted as they stumbled back out of the room only to find themselves face to face with Bucky Barnes, who was only wearing his pants, carrying a tray filled with breakfast for two and was walking down the corridor towards his room.

They all froze and just stared at each other dumbly for a few seconds that felt like hours.

"Hey babe, what is taking you so-oh shit." Tony and Dean turned slowly towards the new voice to see Sam Wilson in his underwear standing at Bucky's door and staring at them with a sheepish, awkward smile.

The six men stood in the corridor awkwardly not sure what to say or do. The only fully clothed two trailed their eyes towards each other and just stared stupidly.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Tony?"

"My tower became a couples retreat."

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

“Why do I always find you on the roofs of any building we end up in?”

Steve announced his presence when he approached Castiel, who was sitting cross-legged on the roof of the mansion.

“What, you acquired a fear of heights suddenly?” Castiel asked with a raised eyebrow as Steve sat next to him on the floor.

“No, but climbing up all those stairs is becoming boring. Basements are good places to hide in too, you know.”

“I’m not hiding.”

“And my name is Natasha. Now we are both liars.” Steve gave him a knowing look that made Castiel scowl at him. “Give me some credit, I have known you for almost a year now.”

“Fine, I may be hiding a little.” Castiel sighed but his scowl was still firmly in place.

“From Erik?”

“From everyone.” Castiel admitted as he looked away from the soldier to stare at the view instead. “I’m not really in a good state to handle much attention right now.”

Steve went quiet and just looked at him for a few seconds carefully.

“I had a rough night too.” Steve murmured quietly as he gazed at the view too. Castiel glanced at him curiously and waited for him to elaborate. “The rooms here a little colder than the tower. I didn’t handle that well since it is my first night. The bunker too was a little cold the day before too.” Steve shrugged like it was nothing.

“That’s why you woke up so early this morning? You didn’t even sleep in the first place.”

“No, not really.” Steve sighed tiredly. “If I had tried to go to sleep I’d have woken Tony up because of a nightmare or something and I didn’t want that, but it’s okay I can go without sleep for a few days if I had to.”

“That’s not exactly healthy, you know.”

“Yeah.”

“I am guessing Tony doesn’t know about that?”

“Nope, he doesn’t. He has his own things to deal with. He doesn’t need me to add to them.”

“Probably any advice I say right now will make me feel like a hypocrite.” Castiel sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He probably caught that one from Dean, Steve mused.

“I think we are both hypocrites really.” Steve chuckled tiredly. “I keep nagging Tony to sleep while I forgo sleep for two days now.”

“I could literally hear his voice yelling at you from now.” Castiel snorted and looked away for a few comfortable minutes they spent in silence. “I had the same nightmare for weeks now.”

“The one you told me about?”

“Yes.”

Steve pierced his lips as he studied the side of Castiel’s face, while the angel refused to look at him.

“What’s with the sudden fear, Cas? What caused it so suddenly? Did something happened?” he asked soothingly, trying not to upset the angel.

Castiel glanced at him for a second then turned away again. “Remember a month ago? The hunt you and Tony came with us in?”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“We were both hurt badly. If I was human, my wounds should have killed me or made me paralyzed from the waist down. However, I was completely healed before you did and your wounds weren’t as bad.” Castiel’s lips turned down as he stared intently at the floor. “For the first time ever, that scared me. I am an angel, healing fast is a normal thing to me, but now? It felt like-“ he cut himself off to take a deep breath. “It felt like I will outlive you all. I don’t want that. I never wanted that. Sure, I died several times but it’s like I don’t have the ability to stay dead for long. And of course I have been an angel since the Earth was born but it never mattered to me before. But now? I have so much to lose. So much that I have no idea how to go on without it. Sometimes, I just wishes I was born a human. Met Dean as a human hunter or something. It would have been easier for everyone.” He turned to meet Steve’s eyes then. “I don’t want to be the only survivor, Steve. I just don’t.”

Steve’s heart ached as he saw the broken look in Castiel’s eyes. He understood every word the angel just said. He understood and felt them to his core. Because he lived through the scenario Castiel was so afraid of. To be the only survivor. Everyone you ever loved just gone and left you completely alone with nothing. He understood it. He lived it. He still hadn’t moved on from it. Probably never will. His worst nightmares usually included a repeat of that with his current family. A much worse scenario. He had no idea how to reassure Castiel when he couldn’t even reassure himself.

He rummaged through his pockets until he found the chocolate bar he stole from Tony’s secret stash he hides deep in the fridge and thought no one knows about it even though pretty much everyone stole from it on regular basis. Although, he suspects Tony knows since he never changed its place when he noticed it decreasing and just added to it instead.

“You like dark chocolate, right?” he asked while breaking it in half anyway and offering a half to the angel.

Castiel smiled and took it with a nod. “Yes. I thought you liked white chocolate though.”

“I do, but Nat ate the last one.” Steve pouted childishly, which made Castiel chuckle a little and Steve felt pride fill him when he managed to do that.

They ate their chocolates in a comfortable silence as they stared at the view while lost in their thoughts. They were interrupted after a few minutes though.

“Hey, guys!” Raven announced her presence loudly from behind them. “I have been looking for you everywhere! You are surprisingly hard to find. Come on, Tony and Dean are back and looking for you.”

 ***

They gathered in Charles’ study after the latter finished with his classes and just stared at Tony and Dean dumbly.

“Thor and… Bruce.” Steve repeated probably for the hundredth time, still in shock.

“That’s… unexpected.” Castiel blinked stupidly.

“Well, at least this explains why they didn’t come with you.” Charles chuckled a little nervously as he obviously tried to take this in.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” Natasha was glaring hard at Tony and Dean like they personally offended her.

“Relax, Red. We all didn’t notice.” Dean rolled his eyes in frustration.

“How did _I_ not notice?! I notice everything! I noticed Star Spangled and Tin Can’s feelings for each other before they did! How did I not see that relationship that had been going for months! Months!” she turned her glare on Sam. “This is your fault! You distracted me! You broke my spy senses!”

“Sorry.” Sam just shrugged without looking sorry or even fazed by her glare.

“Well, even though I feel kinda offended I didn’t notice before too or been told about it, but I am really happy for them. They deserve to be happy too.” Steve smiled with a shrug.

“By the way, I can assure that Barnes’ date went _very_ well.” Tony smirked cheekily at Steve.

“Oh, did he now?” Steve mirrored his husband’s smirk. “This is going to be fun.”

After they laughed about the whole thing and admitted they were genuinely happy for the new couples, Tony finally addressed Charles.

“Alright then, I am ready to check on Cerebro. Just give me a few minutes to change into something more comfortable.” Tony announced while standing up from his seat.

“I will meet you there, then. I will take the others, I am sure you will like it.” Charles addressed the others with a smile and they all followed him out while Tony made his way to his old room in the mansion where he spent the night with Steve.

While he was pulling out more comfortable clothes, the door opened, revealing Steve with a plate filled with sandwiches.

“Since you missed lunch and you tend to get absorbed while working and forgets about eating,” he rolled his eyes at that. “I insist you eat first before going down there.”

“God, I am starving. Thank you. I love you, sweetheart.” Tony grinned happily as he took the plate enthusiastically.

“That’s it. We are old news. I only ever get endearments whenever I bring you food.” He sighed exaggeratedly with a tired shake of his head as he sat down on the bed.

Tony grinned sardonically. “That and blowies, babe.”

“What’s next? I will only get it now if I give you tech too? Do you need some processor cores or something?”

“Did you just say processor cores? Jesus, Steve, you’re so hot when you’re talking modern tech.”

Steve grinned, shaking his head. He tried and failed to fight down the blush, which yeah. God, he couldn’t wait for night time already to curl around him on this bed. Any other time he wouldn’t have waited for night really.

“Come on,” Tony said in a husky voice. “Say it again. Say ‘pe-ta-flops’. And say it slowly.”

The blush deepened. Steve rolled his eyes again. “Stop it.”

“You’re ridiculously adorable when you’re all embarrassed, you know that?” After a moment of silence, Tony stopped eating and gazed at Steve carefully. “You know we’re not old news, right?”

Steve looked at him, his eyes asking him to elaborate with a small nod.

“I mean… I love you. More every day. We will never be old news. Sure, I got used to having you around me all the time for years now, but that never meant I love you less. That’s ridiculous. I still get fucking breathless every time you look at me, like I was when we were still dating. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.” He took a shuddering breath before taking Steve’s hand gently in his. “God, Steve I still can’t believe you actually chose me. You chose the path that would lead you to me. I can’t believe you actually did that.”

Steve’s eyes softened as he gave Tony one of his special smiles that never stopped making his heart stutter in his chest. “I will always choose you, Tony. You are everything to me. Nothing more important to me than you.”

 Tony smiled, and felt his heart shudder in happiness, and God, when had he become that much of a sap? It didn’t matter, though, not when Steve looked at him like that. He was gorgeous, beautiful. And he was Tony’s. “And you to me,” he admitted quietly and pressed a little kiss against Steve’s palm. Earning another beautiful smile in return.

“By the way, you owe the Swear Jar a dollar.”

“Seriously? We were having a sweet moment here.”

“You are still paying, sweetheart.”

“You are no fun.” Tony pouted making Steve through his head back as he laughed.

As he took Steve in, he finally noticed how tired he looked. He knew that Steve didn’t sleep for almost two days now and didn’t tell to not make Tony worried. But Tony always worries. It is just a part of his personality really.

He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to Steve’s forehead then to his tired eyelids. Tonight he will make sure Steve will sleep. He vowed to himself.

  

            

  


	10. Chapter 10

“This is so cool.”

Sam exclaimed excitedly as he looked around with wide eyes when Charles led them to Cerebro. “It is way bigger than I imagined!”

“Naturally. It needs to be this big to contain Charles’ big head.” Raven teased with a smirk sent Charles’ way.

“Very funny.” The telepath rolled his eyes as he turned to face the others, pride filling his features as he watched the awe on their faces.

“So, basically, you place that helmet on your head and then you are connected to all the minds on Earth?” Dean asked in wonder.

“Pretty much, yes.” Charles shrugged with a smile. “I’d show you, but I don’t fully trust it right now. It is better to wait until Tony figures out what’s wrong with it.”

Erik relaxed at that. For the past weeks, every time Charles used Cerebro, he got nervous that the malfunction would increase and hurt Charles in any way. He recently finally managed to convince the telepath to stop using it until he get help in fixing it. Charles was very stubborn sometimes it makes him want to scream.

Erik toned out as Charles started to explain to Sam about the mechanisms of Cerebro and looked around at the others in the room.

Dean was looking at Cerebro’s helmet curiously as he studied it from afar, while Natasha was too busy watching Sam. Raven wasn’t paying attention to what’s going on around her.

Meanwhile, Castiel seemed a little distracted as he looked around tiredly. Looks like even angels had rough nights. The thought alone was enough to make Erik’s head spin a little.

Ten minutes later, Stark and the Captain entered the room, holding hands for some reason with Stark dragging the willing soldier behind him.

Stark then made his way to Dean, who was talking quietly with Castiel with a concerned expression, and dragged him by the arm.

“Come on, Winchester. You’re helping.” Tony decided, pulling the eldest Winchester towards Cerebro’s main board.

“But I don’t even know what that is.” Dean objected desperately but let himself be dragged anyway.

“I will walk you through it.” The genius just brushed off Dean’s protests, while the hunter rolled his eyes at him as he obliged.

Erik watched them in interest. In short months, they seemed to be really close. He knew enough about Stark to know that he rarely let anyone in easily. The list of the people he considered close was very short, well, not shorter than Erik’s list, of course, which only held one name really but close enough. Stark was like him, very picky about the people he let in. Surprisingly, it looked like he let Dean in fairly easily and fast from what Erik saw so far.

A lot could happen in a few months apparently.

The next few hours were spent with Stark disassembling the main board with Dean. At some point, Tony stripped down to a black tank top, while Winchester was in his undershirt. Charles was close to them, observing curiously as he talked with Tony. Raven, Sam and Natasha was nowhere to be seen, probably somewhere outside the room. Castiel and Steve were at the doorway, watching and talking quietly with each other sometimes but mostly they just stood silently. Erik himself was standing close to Charles, observing and listening to them as they talked without entering the conversation.

“How long had been this going on?” Tony asked while he was sitting on the floor screwing something in the board.

“Two months, I suppose.” Charles answered with a small frown in concentration.

“Fifty-three days.” Erik corrected automatically earning a small smile from Charles as he looked up at him.

“Why didn’t Hank take a look at it?”

“I didn’t think it was serious at first, but lately the problem seemed to be increasing gradually and Hank was already gone on his trip.” Charles explained with a shrug. “Did you find out what’s the problem?”

“Not yet. Close though.” Tony replied a little distractedly, seeming to have a problem in dislocating a part by himself. His left arm took many hits along the years and he still denies that it was busted and needs checking, much to Steve’s annoyance.

Dean sat on the floor next to Stark and helped him in removing the part himself without making a big deal of it.  Stark’s gratitude was obvious in his eyes.

“Hey, is Steve alright?” Dean asked looking behind at the Captain, who was leaning against the doorframe tiredly with his eyes closed. “He doesn’t look good.”

Stark turned to look at Steve and frowned in concern as he checked him. Even Erik had to admit that the Captain looked terrible. He had dark circles under his eyes and his stance was slumped tiredly, not his usual soldier like stance.

“When was the last time he slept?” Charles asked in concern as he also looked over at the soldier.

“Honestly? I have no idea.” Tony sighed in frustration, concern written all over his face. “He thinks I don’t know that he isn’t sleeping lately and he isn’t talking, so I don’t know what’s wrong.” He turned to Charles then. “Are you getting anything from his thick brain?”

“Only him trying to convince himself that he was fine without sleeping so far.” Charles rolled his eyes at that. “And apparently he actually managed to do that.”

“Stubborn bastard.” Tony shook his head with a sigh.

“Did you try talking to him?” Dean asked carefully, watching as Castiel leaned towards Steve, talking to him, looking worried and getting a smile from the soldier and an ‘I’m fine’.

“I did. I think he is too tired to talk.” Tony’s shoulders slumped in surrender. “After we finish with this I will try to force him to sleep. Even if I have to sit on him.”

“I hope you will be fully clothed when you do that.” Dean muttered with a shudder.

“No promises, dude.” Tony smirked over at him. “I have to tire him out completely and there’s only one way to do that.”

“Ew. I don’t wanna know what you guys do in your alone time. Gross.”

“Feel lucky you don’t read minds. I am getting very graphic thoughts from his mind right now that I am failing to block.” Charles grimaced with a shudder, earning a loud laugh from Tony and a sympathetic look from Dean.

It took them another three hours before Tony closed up everything with a tired sigh and Dean stretching his back with a groan.

“I think I managed to handle the problem. I still don’t know what happened but I think it’s gone now.” The genius addressed Charles with an exhausted look on his face.

“I can try it right now to see if it’s gone. What do you think?” Charles asked as he trailed his eyes over Tony’s work curiously.

“Yeah, I think you should, to make sure.” Tony nodded and grabbed Dean’s arm to get back to his feet with a groan.

They both stumbled to their husbands tiredly. Dean leaned heavily against Castiel the moment he reached him and the angel took his weight easily with a fond smile.

Meanwhile, Steve jerked when Tony touched his arm gently and blinked blearily for a few seconds before his eyes landed on Tony’s concerned frown and pasted on a reassuring smile on his face while pulling Tony close.

Erik leaned over towards Charles’ ear, who was fiddling with Cerebro’s helmet.

“Are you sure about this?” he whispered, voice filled with concern and worry. “Maybe you should wait. Or maybe-“

“It’s fine, Erik.” Charles reassured with a sweet, reassuring smile. “You don’t have to be worried. I am sure that Tony figured out the problem admirably.”

Erik still felt worried but he stepped back anyway with a sigh. There was no changing Charles' mind anyway.

Charles placed the helmet on his head just as Sam, Natasha and Raven returned back inside the room. Steve was too busy trying to look fine in front of Tony's assessing stare, while Dean just closed his eyes tiredly as he leaned heavily against Castiel, who seemed to not mind at all.

They all paid attention when Cerebro started to work, then millions of blue and red holograms filled the huge room making everyone stare with wide eyes.

"Seems like it's working fine." Charles commented with a smile as he too watched the holograms.

"Are all of those humans?" Sam asked, still staring in awe.

"Humans and Mutants." Charles corrected. "Everyone that lives on our planet."

"And you are connected to all of them?"

"That's right."

"So, Cerebro widens your telepathy to cover the whole world." Castiel stated, also looking awed. "That makes you the most powerful telepath I ever met."

"I am sure that's not quite true." Charles just chuckled. "Surely you will find who is more powerful than me in the new generation of mutants."

"Until we do, you are the awesomest, dude." Dean said, fully awake now as he stared.

"Charles, I think this is enough." Erik murmured firmly but gently. "You made sure it is working, now please shut it down."

"Give me a moment, darling. It's been a while since I last stretched my mind." Charles just shrugged him off distractedly.

"Charles, please, I-"

"What is that?" Steve's voice cut him off as he pointed at something with a frown.

"What is what?" Tony asked as he looked at what Steve was pointing at.

"That small shimmering light. I think it is growing." Steve clarified as he stepped forward to get a closer look.

"Yeah, I see it." Raven confirmed with a frown.

"Why is it growing?" Natasha added in confusion.

Castiel watched the flickering light intently as worry started to build inside him.

Erik watched the thing they were pointing at as it got bigger and bigger and started to get nervous.

"Charles, shut it down." He said yet again more desperately.

"Erik, calm down." Charles murmured distractedly and was looking a little dazed and spaced out.

"Maybe you should listen to him, Charles." Tony agreed looking worried.

Stark is agreeing with him. That only made Erik even more scared.

"Charles?" Erik called out to get the telepath's attention but Charles just stared ahead without answering. "Charles! What's wro-"

"It is nothing, Erik." Charles seemed to be trying to pull himself out of his daze. "It's probably not-"

His sentence was cut off when the light suddenly increased even more in size causing electric sparks to jump from the device right to the helmet. Then Charles started to scream.

 

  


	11. Chapter 11

Needless to say that Charles' scream made everyone's panic reaches sky high.

They all rushed forward, Tony and Erik were faster to reach the pained telepath.

"Charles?!" Tony shouted, voice filled with fear.

"Charles! Charles, what's happening?" Erik yelled in panic, his usual composed self was thrown out of the window at his husband's distress. He didn't get an answer from Charles just another pained scream as he tried to clutch at his head through the helmet. Erik looked up towards the panicked Stark. "Shut it off! Do something!"

Stark snapped out of it then moved towards the main board and tried to do anything, while trying to control his fear for his friend.

The others were clutching at Charles, trying to do anything to lessen his obvious pain. Steve, Dean and Erik were struggling to get the damned helmet off, while Cas, Sam and the girls were pulling at the wires attached to it to snap them out.

"Tony! Hurry!" Dean yelled as the helmet refused to come off.

Tony growled and punched the main board with all he got to pull the wires out, vaguely aware of the blood covering his fist and Steve's panicked voice calling his name.

"Guys. That light just got way larger than it should." Sam announced as he stared at the now huge ball of light as it flickered more violently now and it's color is turning into an angry red.

"It is going to blow up!" Dean yelled and started to pull everyone back, including Charles, who they finally managed to pull the helmet from his head after Tony's stunt.

"Tony, get back here, fast!" Steve shouted and moved towards him but it was too late.

The ball of light exploded, throwing everyone violently around the room and causes parts of the ceiling and the walls to fall.

Tony, being the closest to the blast, was thrown all the way through the room to hit the wall hard and collapsed down with it on top of him. Erik and Dean hit another wall and fell in a pained heap only to have debris from the ceiling falling on them trapping them underneath. Natasha was thrown to hit Sam and Raven making them crush against the heavy metal door. Steve and Castiel both hit the floor violently but managed to dodge any falling debris.

Erik looked up frantically, ignoring his current situation to see what happened to his husband. He saw Charles on the floor, still close to the main board, his chair was nowhere to found and seemed to be awake but in deep pain.

What terrified him even more was the fact that the ball of light changed into a some kind of portal, which was sucking anything close to it, including Charles.

"No! No, no, no." he muttered frantically as he tried to use his powers to lift the giant debris off of him but apparently, he hit his head too hard and his focus was lacking painfully for him to use his powers properly.

Just then Charles noticed that he was being pulled into the very close portal and was frantically trying to crawl away from it, and failing.

Erik started to seriously panic. He can't save his husband. The truth of it almost made him sick.

He looked up helplessly to see if anyone was strong enough to help Charles, but saw that Stark was barely conscious from how hard his hit was and a fallen wall on top of him, Dean was awake but was also bend down by debris and was struggling to get off from under it, Sam and the girls were out cold. However, he saw Castiel and Steve starting to try to get back on their feet slowly.

Before he could shout for their help, the portal enlarged suddenly and its sucking was magnified then Charles was pulled into it fast.

"Erik!" Charles yelled as he tried to grab for anything to keep him from getting sucked, while looking frantically at Erik, screaming for his husband's help.

"Charles, hold on!" Erik tried again to push the debris off him to pull Charles away, anything! He couldn't do anything he was fucking helpless.

"I can't! Erik, I can't!" Charles shouted, as he was inches away from the portal. Erik watched helplessly as he tried to figure out a way to save Charles but it was too late.

The portal pulled Charles the last few inches and with one last desperate look Erik's way, he started to disappear through it, and Erik felt the life being sucked out of him.

"Charles! No!" He heard Stark shouting frantically, followed by Dean's loud cursing as he tried to free himself.

Castiel and Steve looked up at their shouts and their faces paled at the scene, they scrambled to their feet and rushed forward but just before they could touch Charles' outstretched hand when he spotted them, the telepath disappeared completely into the portal.

"No!" Erik found himself screaming desperately as he felt like his very soul just got ripped away from him painfully. "Charles!"

What scared him even more was the fact that the portal shrinked right after it took Charles and was starting to close up.

Then, the strangest thing happened. Castiel took one glance at that fact, then send a fleeting, apologetic glance at Dean, then he was rushing forward towards the portal without hesitation.

"Cas! Cas, don't!" Dean yelled in sheer panic, but the angel just jumped right after Charles without thinking.

"Cas!" Steve shouted desperately then cursed loudly, he looked at Tony, who kept shaking his head at him in panic like he was reading his mind, but Steve just squared his shoulders and called out to Dean as he raced towards the almost closed portal. "I will look out for him. You look out for Tony!" with that he jumped right after the angel and the portal flickered violently after he disappeared, then it vanished completely.

Erik watched all that with wide eyes. These two idiots just jumped after his husband.

He didn't know how to deal with any of that.

***

A dark silence fell on the room after the portal disappeared.

Dean just blinked stupidly, unable to be fully aware of what just happened.  

He tried to process the events of the past five minutes again.

A portal was opened when Charles used Cerebro and it blew up the room. A huge fucking debris is pinning him down to the floor. The portal sucked in Charles because he was closer to it and unable to run away, since his wheelchair was blown away. Castiel, the fucking selfless idiot, decided to jump after him because he was an idiot with a too kind heart. Then Steve seeing this, probably knowing Castiel will be a in a self-sacrificing mode over there, decided to jump right after him to stop that while asking for Dean to look out for Tony, who was probably on the edge of panicking right now.

If he got a penny for every time that scenario happened to him, he'd have been a fucking billionaire by now.

It was like the universe really likes it when he and Tony got separated from their husbands one way or another. He was really hardly surprised or panicked anymore. He was just really fucking angry. Angry at everything and at the universe. Because it was fucking unfair. He and Cas never got enough time until shit break loose. They didn't deserve that much pain. Neither did Steve and Tony.

They didn't fucking deserve any of this.

He looked around to see both Erik and Tony staring at where the portal used to be with wide, shocked eyes.

Fuck, he almost forgot about Erik in the middle of this shit show. From what he gathered so far, Charles was Erik's anchor. As long as the telepath was there, Erik was willing to hold back his obvious anger and genocidal thoughts to keep Charles happy. Because he obviously worships the ground Charles walks on-Erm, rolled on? Whatever.

In conclusion, with Charles gone. Erik will be a very unsettled, a very upset powerful mutant.

Sam, finally, and the girls started to wake up. His brother looked around blearily, when his eyes landed on Dean, he was suddenly very awake and rushing frantically towards him.

"Dean! Shit, what happened? Are you alright?" he asked as he lifted the fucking debris off of him. "Where's Cas? And Steve? Shit, and Charles?!"

"No, I am not fucking alright." Dean growled as he got back to his feet with Sam's help. "They're gone, okay? A fucking portal took them away." Sam's eyes widened and was about to say something but Dean cut him off. "Help Lehnsherr. I will handle Tony."

Sam hesitated for a second, but then rushed to help the angry mutant. 

Dean raced towards Tony and winced. A huge part of the wall fell on top of him and he looked to be in a fuckload of pain.

"Tony? You conscious?" he called out in concern as he started to lift up the huge parts on top of his friend.

"Yeah." Tony grinded out through clinched teeth.

"You okay?"

"No, I am not okay. That is probably the stupidest question you could have asked me right now."

Yeah, he got a point there.

He finally managed to remove everything on top of Tony, he then noticed that the genius was cradling his left arm to his chest and seemed to breathe carefully and painfully.

He crouched down on the ground next to him.

"Show me your arm." He said firmly but gently. Tony looked up at him, then tentatively let go of his arm with a pained hiss to let Dean touch it.

Broken. Great.

"Can you breathe?"

"Yeah, but it hurts."

Broken ribs. The day was getting better and better.

He helped Tony back to his feet carefully. The genius looked up at him, and Dean saw a huge amount of emotions trying to take place in his eyes. Anger. Grief. Panic. Pain. And guilt.

"Your head is bleeding." He said with a concerned frown as he cradled his broken arm to his aching chest again.

"And you need a hospital." Dean retorted, brushing off Tony's comment.

"What? I am not going to a hospital! We need to find them! Reopen this portal right n-"

"I know, okay?! But you are no help while hurt!"

"Are you saying I am useless right now? Is that what you are saying? I am useless now because I have a broken arm? That I can't fucking bring those fucking idiots back?!"

"What? I am not saying t-"

"You said you fucking fixed it!" Erik roared loudly as he was shrugging Sam off of him and marching towards them in pure rage. "You said that! Instead you made it worse!"

Dean immediately got in front of Tony to be between him and the very angry mutant, and trying to hold back Tony, who was trying to march right back in anger.

"I did what I can!" Tony shouted back, trying to move from around Dean but the hunter kept him back firmly.

"Apparently it wasn't enough!" Erik yelled and Dean could feel the room vibrating from Erik's rage. His powers must be going crazy from anger. "He was your fucking friend! Your brother! He counted on you and you couldn't even put aside your issues to focus on what you were doing! Now he was probably in another world because of you!"

"Woah, woah. Lehnsherr, just calm the fuck down." Dean tried to calm the situation down as he felt things getting out of control.

"I said I did what I can." Tony growled and stepped forward until he was plastered to Dean's side. "And don't you fucking dare to think for a second that you care about him more than me! If you cared you wouldn't have hurt him! You wouldn’t have done what you did! If he had his fucking legs today, he'd have been able to run away! But he didn't. Because of you! And now I lost my brother, my husband and my friend because of what you have done!"

Almost everyone in the room froze in shock as they stared at Tony, who was heaving from both pain and anger. They definitely didn't see that one coming.

Dean moved his eyes towards Erik, who was completely frozen. An intense, raged look on his face as the room started to shake more violently than before, and Dean's heart banged in worry and fear. That man could crush Tony in a second but was barley holding himself back.

"Okay. Okay. Now that you got off everything from your chests, can we calm down and think for a second?" Dean started in calming voice, placing a hand on Tony's shoulder, pulling him behind him just in case. "I don't care about your pasts. I don't care about why you hate each other. What's important now is that wherever Charles is right now, he isn't alone. Cas and Steve jumped after him to make sure of that. They will work together to try and come back to us. The three of us are husbandless right now, which means we are together in this. You have to put aside whatever crap between you to work together to help them back. Are you adults enough to do that or am I talking to a couple of petulant, angry children?"

Erik turned his eyes on him sharply and Dean met them challengingly. They stared each other down while the room still shook violently.

"Erik." Raven murmured desperately, her voice filled with fear and worry. Natasha trailed her eyes between the two of them, inching closer every second with Sam, as if planning to pull Dean and Tony away if Erik decided to strike.

Erik turned his eyes towards his sister-in-law, then back at Dean, before his shoulders sagging in defeat and exhaustion. The room finally settling down again.

"I will do anything for Charles." Erik murmured quietly, almost in defeat, as he looked at Dean.

Dean turned to Tony and saw him also hunched down in defeat and looking at Dean in pained sadness.

"Okay. That's good." Dean nodded at the both of them in relief. "Now, here is what we are going to do. Nat, check on the wound in his head and see if she have any injuries." He said pointing at Erik then at Raven. "Sam, you call the others and tell them to bring their asses here. We need all the help we could get. I will take Tony to a hospital and be right back."

"I am not going to a-"

"You are going even if I have to fucking carry you all the way there! So shut your pie hole and move, you fucking Tin Man!"

  

   

 

   

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Tony hated hospitals.

Hated everything about them. The smell of sickness and death everywhere. The coldness of its colors. The blank faces. Just everything.

That's why he barley steps a foot in one of them unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd rather take care of his injuries at home or SHIELD medical if it was serious enough, much to Steve's chagrin.

 Right now? He didn't think Dean will take a no for an answer as he dragged him inside and ignoring all of Tony's protests.

"He has a broken arm and probably a few broken ribs." Dean reported to the first doctor, who rushed towards them.

"He has a head wound." Tony called out from over his shoulder while he was being dragged away. "You may need to take a look at that."

While the doctors patched him up without asking too many questions since they probably recognized him, he let his mind try to take in what happened.

Steve was gone. Again. With Castiel. Again.

And Charles.

However, this time? It was completely his fault.

Sure, he might have denied it in front of Lehnsherr but he'd rather die than admit that in front of him.

But the truth was that it was his fault. There was no one else to blame.

He just lost Steve, Charles and Castiel, because he couldn't let aside his issues to focus enough on what he was doing with Cerebro.

It was his fault.

By the time Dean walked into his hospital room with bandages wrapped around his head, Tony had managed to put himself in self-loathing mode at full force.

"How are you feeling?" Dean asked as he made himself comfortable on a chair next to Tony's bed.

"Well, I have a broken arm and a couple of broken ribs, my fist is pretty messed up for punching the mainboard. So, I'd say I am peachy." He replied a little snarkily.

"I talked with the doctors. I asked them not to let you stay overnight after assuring them that you will be rested all the time." Dean said, graciously brushing off Tony's snark.

"Sorry to tell you that, but the only person who could manage to make me stay in bed is gone. So, no, not an option we need to get to work to try and br-"

"We will, but you are hurt, dude. Just rest and-"

"I can't, Dean!" Tony snapped suddenly and groaned when that hurt his ribs. "You know I can't. We need to find them. They could be anywhere. Facing dangers. I can't just rest while knowing that."

Dean studied him for a few seconds without saying anything, making Tony fidget a little.

"What's going on with you?" Dean asked bluntly with an unreadable expression on his face. "Since the moment we saw Xavier you have been acting weird. Distracted. Even more so when you saw Lehnsherr." Dean leaned forward to have a good look at him. "What happened between the two of you that got you to hate him that much? He doesn't seem to hate you, he just acts the way you do with him. So what happened?"

"I thought you said that you didn't care." Tony snarked as he fidgeted a little.

"I lied." Dean stated matter-of-factly with a shrug. "I need to know what's going on. So I'd know what I am dealing with since, obviously, whatever had happened is affecting you and making you distracted. Don't you think I didn't notice that."

Tony chewed on his bottom lip as he avoided Dean's eyes. "Do you really think that we should discuss this now?"

"You still need to stay a few more hours here, let's kill time by you spilling your guts."

"Fine." Tony sighed, knowing that there was no point to hope that Dean will let it go anytime soon. "Remember our talk about the year you went to hell and I was kidnapped, and how big that year was for us?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it was a big year for Charles too." Tony frowned as he tried to form words without rambling too much. He felt that Dean didn't currently have enough patience for that. "Charles met Lehnsherr a couple of years before the Afghanistan incident. Got together after a year of friendship or something. Charles jumped from a fucking ship to save his dumbass from killing himself by trying to stop a submarine under water. I think Lehnsherr got hooked on Charles' cheerful manner and how he wriggled himself in Erik's life and got comfortable there. Being both mutants helped too, since you obviously noticed Lehnsherr's 'reservations' towards humans." Dean snorted at the air quotes and Tony smiled a little before continuing. "I didn't think much of it then. Too busy with being an oblivious asshole, of course."

"No, no, don't say that. You are still an asshole, yeah, but in a better way." Dean remarked with a smirk.

"Jeez, thanks. How sweet of you to say that, dick." Tony rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, I didn't pay much attention to it. Charles was a playboy too, so I figured it was just a passing thing like always, even though I kinda liked Lehnsherr then, even with his dark, dangerous demeanor, but-" Tony bit his lower lip in bitterness. "As a year passed, I already saw the obvious love between them. It was nice and I was happy for Charles really that he managed to find someone to stick around with. Even if I was a little jealous with my previous thoughts that I will never find someone who'd love me like that." Tony felt like he was no longer talking to Dean, but like he was talking with himself loudly. Saying things he avoided saying for years now. He guesses he really was tired of keeping it in all this time and now it was rushing out of him unconsciously. Like the talking would keep his mind busy for a while from the dooming knowledge of the absence of a certain super soldier. That or maybe the fucking painkillers they hooked him up with.

Now he remembers how it felt in vivid detail. How happy Charles was then. How Erik's love was so obvious even with his stoic face. Tony remembered how empty his heart felt then. Craving that kind of love but deep down knowing he was unworthy of it. Tony went sideways when his parents died. Charles tried to help him back up with Rhodey, but he was too far gone. Instead, Charles didn't leave. Even when Tony changed drastically and into something worse. Charles stood by him anyway.

"Then Afghanistan happened." Tony continued, getting bitterer in every passing moment. "Three months I was gone. I returned. One of the first things I did when I came back home was going to Charles. Partly, was to know why he wasn't the first one to welcome me back. I went to the mansion, to find him completely alone, high as a kite and in a wheelchair. No Lehnsherr in sight."

"Shit." Dean murmured, eyes widened a little. Tony almost forgot he was there from how silent he was. "He lost his legs on the same year?"

"He lost everything on that same fucking year." Tony muttered bitterly. 

"What happened?"

"You were dead in that period so you probably didn't pay attention to this then, but there was a crazy as hell Nazi mutant, who wanted to start a war between USA and Russia, Charles knew about that and decided to join with the CIA to stop him, that how he met Lehnsherr in the first place because the Jackass was after the same guy since he killed his mother." Dean was starting to blink dumbly at him, probably because of the amount of information being thrown at him all at once. "Anyway, Charles and Lehnsherr made a team of mutants to stop the crazy guy. They did. Lehnsherr killed him. Humans being humans, shot missiles at the island they were on, which was Cuba by the way, because humans will always be afraid of what they don't understand. Lehnsherr going into a killing spree, wanted to send the missiles back to destroy the ships. Charles tried to stop him. There were gunshots. Lehnsherr diverted a bullet in the wrong way and landed in Charles' spine instead."

"Fuck." Dean's eyes were huge by now as he stared at Tony. "Really fuck. This is just- fuck!"

"Yeah, what you just said."

"God, I hate to be in his place."

"Charles?"

"No, Erik." At Tony's incredulous look, Dean added. "Come on, Tony. You saw the guy, he is obviously worshipping the ground Charles walks on. He didn't really mean to hurt him."

"Well, because of him Charles can't walk on a ground anymore." Tony spat angrily. "That bastard took Charles to a hospital and left him there. After he took Raven, who shared his fucking beliefs, he just abandoned Charles like that, leaving him to deal with the loss of his legs on his own." Tony took a few calming breaths when his chest hurts from raising his voice. "He took everything from him and ran. When Charles found out that I never came back from Afghanistan then, he felt that everything in his life was gone. I came back to find a shell of the man I once knew. Resentful, cynical, broken, drunk and a junkie!" Tony met Dean's eyes. "He took everything then left him broken and bloody behind. Then, he had the nerve to come back six months later asking forgiveness. It took me those months to get back some of what Charles used to be, I made him his chair before I started building the first Iron Man suit! Then, he just waltzed in and Charles fucking forgave him! I can't stand looking at the guy and Charles fucking married him! Who does that?!"

Tony just panted after his yelling, while Dean just looked at him wistfully for a few seconds without saying anything.

"Cas almost killed me once." Dean started, making Tony flinch and stare at him startled. The sentence was just too bizarre. He couldn't even imagine Cas being able to lay a finger on Dean. "He was brain washed. An angel bitch trained him to kill thousands of copies of me. He almost did it. Beat me to a bloody mess before snapping out of it then disappeared for months after I pretty much confessed to him about my feelings. He just left."

"Shit." Tony blinked at him, still unable to believe that.

"I thought that I was never going to forgive him that but I knew it was just a lie." Dean chuckled with a shake of his head. "But then I found him in bloody by the side of a road and it was a little hard to stay mad. A few things happened, Cas became a human and I completely forgot my anger. Then a few years later, I did the same thing to him. Beat him to a bloody mess, almost plunged an angel blade into his chest. After leaving him broken and hurt, he still did everything he could to save me and bring me back. I forgave him, Tony. And he forgave me. If you were in my place or Charles's or Cas’, you wouldn't forgive Steve?"

Tony stared at Dean dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer that. Of course, he knew the answer already. He'd forgive Steve anything. He knew that.

"What are you trying to say?" Tony murmured but he knew what Dean was going with this.

"What I am saying is, I know why Charles forgave Erik after everything. I know because I have been through this several times. Hell, I did to Cas so many fucking stupid things and he still forgave every single one of them. Apparently, love makes you a dumbass person."

"He shouldn't have left him."

"He panicked, Tony." Dean sighed tiredly. "It's obvious. Probably, it dawned on him what he did to Charles and just ran. Maybe afraid of seeing Charles. I'd have done the same. _You_ 'd have done the same. I am not saying you have no right to be angry at him. But if he really didn't love Charles he wouldn't have come back. Maybe you should give him some slack, the guy is trying. If we were in his position it'd have taken us years to come back and you know it."

Tony closed his eyes and just rested his head against the pillows, feeling drowsy, the pain killers were doing a fine job.

"When did you become all rational and sensitive and-and not me?" Tony muttered drowsily with a halfhearted glare at Dean.

"We can't both be you at the same time, if Steve and Cas aren't here. We might actually kill each other from the amount of issues that will explode then." Dean smirked at him with a small chuckle. "And I am pretty sure I am the original by the way."

"I am older. Obviously I am the origi-original, you copycat bastard." Tony slurred, his eyes are drooping.

"The painkillers are doing a number on you, aren't they?"

"They are making me all floaty. I don't wanna be floaty without my Steve."

Dean got a wistful look on his face. Why was Dean sad? He shouldn't be sad. "We will bring them back, Tony." Dean promised with a determined look. "Rest now. We will figure it out."

"Okay." Tony murmured, staring at Dean. "I like you, by-by the way. You are like, I don't know, my long lost twin brother or something. It's weird. Maybe we should make a DNA test or something. Obviously, we are not identical since I am the handsome one and you are too tall for my liking. Taller than Steve which is weird. Point is, it's-it's nice. Nice to have a long lost twin or something, I don't know. Thanks for being here? Or glad you are here or something? You know what I mean." Shit, the painkillers are ruining him.

Dean was blinking at him with a barley suppressed laugh.

"Yeah, I know. It _is_ nice to have a long lost twin brother or something." Dean smiled in amusement at him. The bastard. "And I am glad I am here too."

Tony snorted before closing his eyes. "You better not leave me behind here in this damn hospital."

"I am not going anywhere."

That was the last thing Tony heard before he fell asleep.

Even in his painkillers' induced state, he knew that Dean wasn't just talking about leaving him in the hospital.  

 

 

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

Castiel jumped into the portal without hesitating.

He knew it wasn't fair to Dean and his family, but he couldn't let Charles deal with this alone. He might have powers, but that won't help him come back.

It was his choice to follow Charles. So he will deal with it.

That's why when he felt another presence following him through the almost closed portal, he groaned in frustration.

Steve. He should have knocked him out before jumping really. Because he was Steve Rogers. Stubborn bastard.

He didn't have time to turn and shout at him though, because the portal wasn't opened on the ground. No, it opened through the middle of the sky and they were now freefalling from the midair towards a strange looking forest.

Nothing is ever easy.

Castiel spotted Charles falling a few feet away from him, yelling, loud, very British curses. It would have been a little funny any other time. He dashed towards him and grabbed him by his arm and the telepath looked up at him in shock, obviously not noticing Castiel's presence until now. He then turned towards the still falling Steve, who reached out his hand towards Castiel, which the angel gripped tightly before unfolding his wings a little difficultly than usual. Huh, great, he was weak here. Fantastic.

He lowered the three of them carefully towards the ground, then rested a, heavily breathing, Charles against a tree before rounding on the super soldier.

"Why did you jump after me?" Castiel demanded with a glare.

"The same reason you jumped after Charles. So you won't deal with this on your own." Steve answered firmly, not even fazed by Castiel's glare.

"I'd have dealt with this perfectly fine without you throwing yourself in an interdimensional portal!"    

"Yeah, at making sure Charles get back, but what about you? You going to ignore your own well-being yet again and give Dean new nightmares?"

"Well, you just gave Tony a brand new nightmares of his own right now! You should have stayed behind and look out for both of them!"

"They have the whole team to help them! They're not on their own. You on the other hand could get yourself killed without any one of us knowing how to help you!"

"That doesn't matter! What matters is-"

"Of course it fucking matter!"

"Why?"  
"Because you are family you stupid asshole." Steve finally yelled angrily making Castiel stop and stare at him with wide eyes. That was unexpected. "When are you ever going to get it? Last time I checked, you are not actually stupid." Steve stepped closer, his glare intensifying. "Your world doesn't just includes Sam and Dean anymore. There's actually more people who fucking cares about you and doesn't want to lose you too." He took a deep calming breath before softening a little. "You are my friend, Cas. A very important part of my family. If you are in trouble, I will follow you, even if it led to my death and I know you will do the same for me."

Castiel watched him silently until he finished talking, then smiled a little as he felt warmer at Steve's words. "Yes, I will." He murmured quietly confirming Steve's last sentence.

"Good. Because otherwise that would have been really awkward for me." Steve smiled back at Castiel.

"God, there's two of you now." Charles finally intervened with a sigh. They both turned to him to find him staring at the both of them in both amusement and frustration. "This family just attracts self-sacrificing idiots apparently." He trailed his eyes towards Castiel. "Why in the bloody hell _you_ jumped after me, Castiel? We barley know each other. Why'd you ever do this for me? Are you just walking around jumping in multi-dimensional portals after paralyzed strangers?" 

"You are not a stranger, Charles." Steve frowned at him in disapproval.

"Not to you maybe, but Castiel, why?" Charles asked again looking lost, and a little cold now that Castiel was looking at him closely as he wrapped his arms around himself. Understandable, since he was only wearing a thin sweater. Steve seemed to notice that too, because he immediately took off his leather jacket and draped it over Charles' shoulders, who smiled up at him gratefully as he wrapped the too big jacket around himself tightly.   

"You are important to Tony." Castiel shrugged, making both of them stare at him in surprise. "Losing you will be a hard hit for him. It will be painful for all of your students as well, who look up at you as their guide and family. Also, if you're gone, Erik will be destroyed and I don't wish that kind of loss on anyone."  

Steve and Charles looked at him wistfully without saying anything for a few seconds.

"Well, I guess Tony didn't exaggerate when he described you." Charles commented with a soft smile.

"Exaggeration is one of Tony's qualities so I am pretty sure he did." Castiel smiled back before looking around to see where they were.

"Where do you think we are?" Steve asked as he gazed at the weird looking trees.

"Not our world for sure. Unless we have dark blue forests back home." Castiel answered with a frown.

"Can you get us back home?" Charles asked hopefully, looking up at the angel. "With your powers?"

"I am afraid I can't." he answered sadly. "I am not as strong as before. Besides, there is something in this world that is making it hard to use my grace. I don't know what it is."

"Great." Steve sighed tiredly. The soldier really should get some sleep, Castiel thought grimly. "We just have to move until we figure out what to do. We don't know what might be lurking in this forest."

He then crouched down in front of Charles, who blinked in confusion for a second before understanding. He gripped Steve's shoulders, while the soldier grabbed Charles' legs then stood up easily with his load.

"I am pretty sure they will figure out something back home." Castiel murmured as he walked ahead of them to make sure it's safe.

"I certainly hope so."

***

Erik just stared straight ahead while Natasha took care of his wound. Apparently, the hit on his head was hard enough that he needed stitches.

He barley even registered the pain anymore or didn't care. He just felt numb all over.

He couldn't ignore the pain in his chest though. The pain that was a constant thing during the long months he was separated from Charles all those years ago. That was the whole problem; he and Charles never left each other's sides since Erik came back for him, after giving up on ever forgetting Charles Xavier.

So without him, he just feels lost. Not knowing what to do with himself. His first instinct was to go make Charles something to eat, only to realize yet again that there was no Charles to feed right now and the pain would be renewed.

His entire world revolves around Charles, without him, he was lost. Disoriented. Empty. Afraid of what he will become without the telepath anchoring him.

"Erik?" Raven's voice preached his thoughts and he looked up to meet her worried yellow eyes. She was thankfully unhurt from the explosion. Sam's giant body protected both her and Natasha. The hunter himself had minor burns that he didn't seem to pay much attention to it. He must be used to injuries to really worry about one by now. "Are you okay?"

He didn't even try to answer her question. It was probably the stupidest question she could be asking right now. Of course, he wasn't okay. How could he possibly be okay? He couldn't fucking protect the most important person in his life. He thought he could protect Charles from anything.

He was proven wrong and he wasn't taking it very well.

"We will get them back." Natasha said without lifting her eyes from her task, voice strong and determined. "We will figure it out. They are stubborn and married to an equally stubborn people. They will find their way to each other."

Well, she wasn't wrong about the stubbornness part.

He was willing to do absolutely anything to get his husband back.

Sam entered the room then, while putting back his phone in his pocket.

"I called everyone. They are all on their way." He announced tiredly. "Dean called. Tony is okay, he just need to stay at the hospital for a few hours before letting him get out. Dean will stay with him."

"Good. Otherwise Tony won't stay a minute there if he was left alone." Natasha rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

They fell silent for a while. Raven unusually quiet. Understandable, Charles was her brother after all.

When he looked up at Sam and saw how slumped and sad he was, Erik was reminded that Castiel was gone too.

He keeps forgetting that from how much he couldn't believe it or understand it. That Castiel actually jumped after his husband in a portal, just to keep him safe. Followed by Steve Rogers, which wasn't really surprising to be honest. Steve was known for throwing himself in danger for his family and friends anyway.

He just didn't think that Castiel would do the same.

He was proven horribly wrong and he kind of feeling guilty about judging the angel before.

He just hoped that they both will be able to bring Charles back in one piece. Otherwise, he had no idea what he will do.

  

 

 

 

   

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Tony woke up, having no idea where he was and what happened.

He blinked a few times at the ceiling for a few seconds in confusion. He was definitely not in the tower or the bunker. Neither had that boring ceiling and small bed.

He looked to the side when he heard a steady breathing, only to find Dean sleeping uncomfortably on a chair next to his bed. That confused him for a second, before suddenly he remembered everything.

He wished he didn't remember.

He was in a hospital and Steve wasn't there. That was enough to make him wish to go back to sleep.

He tried to set up and groaned when he felt pain in his chest, which effectively woke Dean up.

Dean blinked blearily for a second before laying eyes on Tony, who was about to get out of the bed.

"What do you think yourself doing?" Dean raised an eyebrow at him, completely awake now.

"Getting out of here?" Tony answered mimicking Dean's eyebrow raise.

"We are not in your bedroom, we are in a hospital, because you are hurt, not because you were bored and I decided to bring you here to freshen up."

"Well, I am fine now. So we can go."

"So I am totally imagining the pained grimace on your face while clutching your chest with your unbroken arm?"

Tony scowled at him hard. "I am stabbing you in my mind."

"I can feel it. Now, please lay back and-"

"We need to find them, Dean!" Tony exclaimed in desperation, making Dean stop and look at him silently. "They might be in danger and counting on us to bring them back. Don't you want Cas back? Let me go back to the mansion, we need to start working."

Dean stared at him for a few seconds, several emotions playing on his face before sighing. "Alright, stop stabbing me in your head I am starting to actually feel it. I will talk to the doctor and make him let you get out, but you will promise me that you will take it easy. I am really not in the mood to carry you if you collapse."

"Promise." Tony rolled his eyes as Dean got up on his feet, when he reached the door Tony called him back. "Dean, wait."

The hunter turned and raised an expectant eyebrow at him.

"You know that technically Steve and I are the leaders, right?" Dean nodded carefully with a confused frown. "And if we are not there, you and Castiel takes the wheel, you know that too?"

"I know it. Still don't get it." Dean pierced his lips at that. "Cas I can understand why. Me on the other hand, not so much."

"I need you to lead them instead of me now." Tony announced bluntly making Dean blinked dumbly at him.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Tony, I can't. I am not the leader type."

"You led the French Resistance's men when we were stuck in the forties. You did pretty well."

"Yeah, when there's fighting involved. The situation we are in right now, definitely not my area. It's yours. I will just screw it up."

"I am in no shape, Dean." Tony admitted looking down. "I can barely stand up without feeling pain in my ribs. What happened back there was my fault. Lehnsherr was right, I was distracted. What happened is on me. I got three important people in my life sucked in a portal." He looked up at Dean. "Believe it or not, you are more capable than me at locking away your emotions. In my case, if it got too much it starts leaking into my actions. I will ruin everything again. I need you to take the wheel in this. So, we could bring them back."

Dean contemplated him silently for a few seconds before coming to a decision. "We will do it together then. I will have your back and you will have mine, like always. This is the only way we can deal with this."

"Yeah. Yeah, I can work with this." Tony nodded feeling relieved at not having to carry the responsibility alone. "Thanks."

"Whatever." Dean smirked a little then. "Besides, no need to thank me since I am apparently your long lost twin brother."

Tony blinked at him for a second, trying to understand how the hell did Dean knew about this description of him.

"You were very talkative when you were on the painkillers." Dean's smirk widened.

"Fuck, no." Tony groaned in embarrassment. "That's why I hate painkillers. What the hell did I say too?"

"Oh, nothing. Just how thrilled you are that I am in your life and how much you like me."

"I'd never say that. If I did, then I probably didn't mean you."

"You did and I was the only one in the room."

"Liar."

"You _like_ me."

"Well, not anymore."

"Shut up, I am a joy to be around."

"Just go and get me out of here, _Joy_."

"Whatever, _Sadness_."

“Seriously? Aren’t you a little old to use references from Inside Out?”

“Younger than you at least.”

“I hate you.”

***

"Your friends are here." Erik announced from his place in front of the window. They were in Charles' study, waiting for the others’ arrival to start figuring out what they should do.

Their friends didn't waste any time apparently from how fast they got here.

"Come on, let's go to them." Natasha took Sam's hand and pulled him to his feet from where he was staring blankly at the wall.

They got out of the room, Raven and Erik following behind silently.

The study felt too empty without Charles in it anyway and he can’t stand staying there for too long.

They reached the main hall where all the rest of the Avengers and friends were waiting anxiously.

He knows the Avengers, of course, he met them a few times during the years and have mixed feelings about each one. He liked Banner enough, he was quiet and kind, but Erik always made sure not to say the wrong thing in front of him since he couldn’t afford to deal with the Hulk. He found the Asgardian bizarre and annoying most of the time but he tolerates him enough now. However, he absolutely does not tolerate Barton’s existence, he was too frustrating but he forces himself not to throw anything too sharp at him.

He, however, had never met the other three with them, but he heard about them from Charles. There was Sam Wilson, he was alright from what he heard about him, which wasn’t a lot really. Then Bucky Barnes, who Erik doesn’t really know what to feel about him really, the things he heard made him a little conflicted, especially the fact that Stark forgave him for killing his parents and still not capable of accepting Erik, which is very hypocritical by the way.

There was a redhead he didn’t know, who immediately wrapped her arms around Sam tightly as the others surrounded him and Natasha.

“Why every time I see you these days is because my two favorite ships are separated somehow?” the redhead reprimanded fondly. Erik had no idea what ships she is talking about. “I am finally in Charles Xavier’s school and the reason is because he and half of my two ships are sucked in a portal.”

“Sorry, Charlie.” Sam murmured, his shoulders dropping in defeat.

“How are you holding up?” Bruce asked gently, placing a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“You are hurt, my friend.” Thor announced with a frown as he gestured to Sam’s burns.

“I’m fine.” Sam just waved it off, before smiling tiredly at the both of them. “Happy for the both of you by the way.” He then turned to Wilson and Barnes who were watching him in worry. “You guys, too.”

“Wait, what? What did I miss here?” Clint stared in confusion at his teammates.

“Not now.” Barnes sighed before focusing on Sam. “Why am I not surprised that the reckless idiot jumped behind the other recklessier idiot?”

“Really it was surprise to absolutely no one.” Natasha scowled in frustration.

Raven stepped forward to greet them and the redhead, Charlie, stared with wide eyes.

Right. Raven was too busy worrying about Charles that she forgot that she was in her true blue form. The Avengers didn’t react to it since they saw her before, Wilson’s eyes widened for a second but just ignored, probably not the weirdest thing he saw so far, while Barnes didn’t even react to it and just greeted her back friendly.

The redhead, however, stared unabashedly but Erik didn’t see disgust or fear in her stare, just interest.

“Charlie, this is Raven. Charles Xavier’s sister.” Sam introduced them. “Raven, this is Charlie. The little sister we never wanted.”

“Haha very funny.” Charlie rolled her eyes, but shook Raven’s hand with a smile. “Hi, nice to meet you. I have to say that you are a work of art.”

“Uhm, thank you.” Raven flushed at her blunt compliment making Charlie grin at her.

“And this is Erik Lehnsherr.” Natasha gestured towards him. “Charles’ husband.”

He nodded at them in greeting, not really bothering to say anything. Barnes and Wilson nodded back while Charlie stared at him up and down.

“I didn’t know that professor Xavier was married. He looks like the complete opposite of him from how intimidating he seems.” He heard her whisper rather loudly to Sam. “But I gotta say I totally approve of this ship. I think I just found myself another OTP!”

Raven let out a startled chuckle, while the others groaned and shook their heads at her.

Erik just stared in confusion, having no idea what the hell she just said.

Honestly? He really didn’t want to know.

    

      

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

They walked for hours through the weird looking forest.

Everything just looked strange and weird, even the flowers looked bizarre. Charles hates every second he was here.

He just wants to be home, surrounded by his students with Erik's constant presence behind him. Always alert. Always making sure he was safe. Always present in the back of Charles' mind.

Erik never broke the promise he made him all those years ago when he came back to him. His promise of never leaving Charles' side again. Erik stayed. A steady rock behind Charles. Being his legs. His shelter. His everything.

This was the first time in a long time they were separated, and Charles hated every second of it.

What made this worse, was that because of his stubbornness of using Cerebro, he didn't only manage to make himself and Erik miserable, no but he did it to a certain genius brother of his and his super soldier husband AND a certain hunter and his angelic husband.

In fact, he made the whole Avengers miserable.

He still couldn't believe that Castiel followed him here to make sure he returned safely. He knew that Castiel was kind hearted and a good friend from what Tony had told him, but he didn't expect him to throw himself in danger for someone he just met. No one is that good. At least he thought so.

He sighed sadly as he adjusted his grip on Steve’s shoulders, who Charles also couldn’t believe was here either.

Tony and Dean apparently has almost the same type in men.

His heart clinched at the thought of them. Tony must be devastated and blaming himself so hard right now, and obviously, Dean is suffering too from the absence of his husband.

Not to mention Erik.

That made Charles’ heart drop. Erik always dealt with everything either with utter coldness or absolute rage. There was no in between. This situation would definitely put him in the absolute rage mode, and that was a very dangerous mode in Erik’s case.

He just hopes he didn’t do anything he will regret. Again.

As they walked, Charles occasionally would catch a few thoughts from Steve’s mind before catching himself and block them away to give the super soldier some privacy, and absolutely nothing from Castiel, which made Charles jittery and frustrated. He was always surrounded by noise in his mind. He got used to it even if he didn’t always pay attention to it, this sudden silence was driving him insane.

He just wants to go back to Erik’s arms and stay there forever in his loving embrace.

Charles wasn’t weak. He was fully capable of taking care of himself even without his legs, a fact Erik refused to accept and just kept hovering around him almost all the time. As frustrating as it could be sometimes, he always felt warm at Erik’s protectiveness and his utter need to always keep Charles safe. It made him feel loved and cherished. Things he never thought he could have.

Neither he nor Tony thought they could have half of what they have today.

Ironic how life turned out for the both of them.

He remembers his own happiness as he watched Tony fall in love with Steve and was being loved back. Their wedding was probably the happiest day of his life right after his own wedding. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he had shed lots of happy tears on that day.

Now, almost three years later of that day, he was stranded in another world with his brother in-law and an angel who also had a devastated loved one back home.

Life could be mean sometimes.

“You think too loud.” Castiel stated suddenly without stopping or turning around, but Charles somehow knew he meant him.

“You can hear thoughts too?” Charles asked with wide eyes.

“Lately only if someone was thinking too loudly, but mostly I don’t do it because Dean said it was impolite.” Castiel answered with a shrug.

“Dean actually used the word impolite?” Steve questioned with a raised eyebrow, looking skeptical.

“He might have used other words that I am not comfortable saying.” Castiel admitted with a small smile.

Steve chuckled a little but Charles noticed that he was panting softly, which was strange because Steve couldn’t get tired that fast from physical work. Something wasn’t right.

Castiel seemed to notice too, since he turned to look at Steve with a frown, but the soldier didn’t acknowledge his look and just kept walking with Charles on his back.

"Maybe we should rest here for a while." Castiel suggested carefully. "It is almost dark anyway."

"Why? I can keep going. I'm fine." Steve said defensively and a little sharply, Charles could feel his body tensing under his hands.

"I need rest." Castiel answered calmly. "It's been a long day and without my grace, I can get tired."

Steve contemplated him for a few seconds. Charles smiled softly, he knew Castiel wasn't tired yet he just wanted to make Steve rest for a while. The soldier seemed to understand that too.

"Okay, fine." Steve sighed and felt his shoulders drop in defeat. "We can rest for the night."

He then crouched in front of a fallen tree log to set Charles carefully on it. The telepath made himself comfortable on the hard log and smiled up gratefully at Steve.

"Thank you." he murmured softly, knowing that the Captain would hear it.

Steve just nodded then sat on the ground to rest his back against the log. Castiel walked over to sit next to him.

They sat silently for a few minutes, Steve trying to hide the fact that he was panting, while Castiel and Charles pretended they didn’t notice.

“Where are we going exactly?” Charles asked carefully after the silence got too much for him to handle.

“I don’t know.” Castiel sighed in defeat. “But it’s dangerous to stay in one place for too long without knowing what kind of creatures that lives here. So, we just keep moving, I guess.” He turned his eyes towards Steve then. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Steve looked up at him startled but nodded and got to his feet with Castiel. The angel gave Charles a small nod before walking a few feet away with Steve to talk.

Which was pointless, since Charles could still hear them without really trying to use his powers.

“What’s going on with you?” Castiel demanded firmly, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Steve answered calmly with a shrug, which he failed in trying to make it casual.

“Yeah, and my name is Natasha.” Castiel snarked with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t bullshit me, Rogers. I know you are not well. We are in this together so you need to be honest with me or I will ask Charles to rip the answer from your thick brain.”

Steve pierced his lips stubbornly as they both stared each other down for a few seconds, before the soldier sighed and looked away.

“I think this place is affecting me like it is affecting your grace.” Steve finally admitted, not looking at Castiel. “I feel weaker. I get tired faster than usual and the lack of sleep is catching up with me violently.”

So this world is affecting all powers. This explains why Charles only hears some thoughts from Steve’s mind and not all of them. His powers was affected too.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?” Castiel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not here to add to your worries.” Steve stared incredulously at him. “I am here to help you and Charles get back home safely. Not to make this worse.”

“Yes, but don’t even think for a second that I am leaving this place without you.” Castiel stated firmly. “Like I said, we are in this together. We look out for each other and no one will get left behind. So, you should’ve told me that you are not well.”

Steve looked up at the angel and sighed again. “Fine. Sorry I didn’t tell you. But you do know that applies on you too, right?”

“I figured as much.” Castiel smiled a little at that. “We will stay here for the night. You will try to get some sleep because I am not planning to carry you around when you collapse.”

“You are getting bossy.” Steve rolled his eyes at the angel but there was no actual heat in his words.

“We can’t both be bossy at the same time, we might kill each other in the end. That’s why you are going to accept it for the time being.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at the angel. Castiel just chuckled and returned to sit next to Charles, who had an amused smile on his face that gave away the fact that he heard the whole conversation. Not that his two partners seemed to care apparently.

Yes, Dean and Tony certainly had almost the same type.

    

 

 

     

  

 


	16. Chapter 16

Dean and Tony reached the mansion after the former managed to get the latter out of the hospital without much trouble. Apparently, even the doctors can’t say no to Tony Stark.

They made their way towards Charles' study, since according to the students they stopped to ask, they saw a large group of good looking, strange, loud men and women headed there with Mister Lehnsherr and Miss Raven. That really narrows it down.

The moment they both stepped through the door of the study, with Dean supporting Tony's body, everyone got to their feet and rushed to them.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Tony reassured when they all attacked him with questions about his injuries. He sat down on a chair Natasha and Sam brought for him. "Just a broken arm and a few messed up ribs and a bruised fist, that's all."

"And you?" Natasha raised an eyebrow towards Dean.

"Hit my head a little too hard. No concussion or amnesia, so no need to look at me like I'm going to die any second." He said the last part as he pointedly looked at Sam, who was staring at him like a kicked puppy.

Charlie moved forward to hug Dean tightly and he hugged her back just as tight.

"We will get him back." She whispered to him as she pulled away, then turned to Tony. "All of them."

Tony nodded gratefully as he looked down at the floor.

"Anything happened while we were gone?" Dean asked as he sat heavily on the couch. The others also getting back to their seats. He finally noticed Erik who was standing and staring silently at the large window without moving a muscle. Like an ice statue.

"No, nothing happened." Bruce sighed sadly. "I tried to take a look at Cerebro earlier but I honestly have no idea what I am supposed to be looking for."

"Even if we decided to replicate what happened earlier, we can't even operate Cerebro again without Charles." Tony frowned, still glaring holes at the floor.

"Then what should we do now?" Bucky asked looking lost and frustrated. Wilson placed a reassuring hand on his knee.

Dean tried to think for a few seconds, trying to find an answer for them.

"We can't operate without Charles or without a telepath at large?" He asked carefully looking over at Tony, who looked up at him, considering.

"Well, it was never tested on any other telepath. Charles is the most powerful of all of them, he has better grip on his powers. I'm not sure if any other telepath could control Cerebro with the same expert grip."

"But it is not impossible?"

"I think so."

"Is there any other telepaths here?" he asked looking up at Raven, who was silent the whole time.

"There's one but she is just a little kid. About eight maybe." Raven answered nervously. "She can't really control her powers yet and it could be dangerous."

"There is no adult telepath?" Thor asked with a frown.

"Well, there's-"

"No." Erik interrupted her firmly as he turned towards her.

"But Erik-"

"I said no. she couldn't be trusted. If we let her anywhere near Cerebro, she might end up wiping our minds and ordering us to kill each other or something. So, no. She will not set a foot there."

"No one wants that." Dean sighed in frustration. "Well, I guess that leaves us with the little girl."

"We are going to use a little girl, who has no idea how to control her powers to open a portal to another dimension?" Sam said incredulously.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

"We will try to make it as safe as we could for her." Tony reassured carefully. "She will not be hurt." He then looked up at Erik and seemed to struggle to get the next words out as nicely as he could. "Can you help her in managing her powers for a while?"

Erik seemed to be taken aback that Tony managed to say a full sentence to him without being cold or harsh, but recovered fast.

"Charles would have been better at this." He answered, his lips twisted in a pained frown. "But I will try my best if it will help bringing him back."

"Okay, good." Dean nodded before facing the others. "We still need to fix Cerebro since the room is pretty messed up. Tony can't fix the technical part by himself so Charlie, me, Bruce and Sam will be his hands. As for the others could you try to rebuild the room as much as you could for it to hold on long enough?"

"I will be able to with some help." Erik answered firmly.

"Good, that's good." Dean nodded and turned to Raven. "Raven, could you get the kid and talked to her about what we need from her?"

"Yeah, okay." Raven nodded with a sigh.

"Alright. Anyone has any objections to anything?" they all shook their heads and he sighed relief. "Then let's get to work." 

***

They lay next to each other on the ground when the night fell.

Castiel in the middle with Steve on his left and Charles on his right, a foot separating them from each other for personal space.

Castiel laid on his back and just stared at the sky, or what he could see of it from between the thick blue trees above them.

Charles and Steve were asleep, if you could call what the latter was doing sleeping. Every time there was a sound around them, even if it was the wind, he'd flinch awake and ready to fight. Castiel would just sigh and pat his shoulder comfortingly until he settle back and try to close his eyes again.

  Castiel was fighting sleep as hard as he could even with how tired he was. If he slept, the damned nightmare will haunt him again and there was no Dean around to help him through it.

He didn't want to burden Steve and Charles with his own fears and troubles. They both had enough on their plates right now.

He couldn’t help but wonder how Dean was doing, already feeling a spark of guilt and longing inside him. He keeps putting Dean in difficult situations even when he was trying to do the right thing. He keeps bringing Dean pain and he had no idea how to stop.

Somewhere along the way, he made the mistake of falling asleep and suddenly he was back there.

Back inside the burning room filled with his family’s burning, dead bodies.

And he was the only one standing, the fire unable to burn him, even with how much he desperately wanting it to turn him to ashes instead of seeing this.

He was trailing his eyes between the bodies, recognizing them immediately. Steve and Tony. Bodies intertwined even as the flames consumed them both. Natasha and Sam. A few feet apart, hands outstretched towards one another and never managed to reach each other. Thor. Clint. Bruce. Charlie. Bucky. And worst of all, _Dean_. A few feet away from him, his lifeless eyes staring up at him with tear tracks visible on his cheeks.  Everyone he ever loved or cared about. Dead. Burning away slowly. And he remained untouched by the flames that was wiping away any evidence of his family.

He wanted to die.

But it wasn’t letting him to die. He was just forced to see this.

Forced to be the only survivor, even though he wished to be one of the fallen.

He just wanted to die with the others, not outlive them.

He was aware of himself murmuring the words ‘Please, let me die.’ Under his breath over and over again but he couldn’t stop. He was unable to stop.

He needed to wake up, but Dean wasn’t there to wake him up.

Dean was dead next to him, the flames eating him away.

He will be trapped here forever. All alone. Until he go insane.

Suddenly, the room started to shake, slowly at first then it increased gradually. He looked around, expecting it to collapse on him. Maybe it will manage to kill him then.

He then felt a hand land on his shoulder from behind and he turned around fast, only to find himself standing face to face with Charles Xavier.

Charles tilted his head as he studied him, while Castiel stood frozen on the spot. He couldn’t help but notice that Charles was probably Tony’s height, maybe a little shorter. He let out a little hysterical laugh unconsciously. Maybe he was starting to go insane already.

Charles frowned a little before stepping forward and placed two fingers against Castiel’s temple.

Then he woke up with a gasp.

He sat upright as he panted heavily, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat and remember where he was.

He felt something shivering on his left and he turned to see what it was.

He was met with the sight of a sleeping Steve, curling on himself and shivering violently in his sleep.

Cold. He was cold and was only wearing a T-shirt, since his jacket was still with Charles, and Steve was still not able to handle the cold that well.

Ignoring his own nightmare and panic, he quickly removed his own jacket without making much noise to not wake the soldier, then covered Steve’s body with his thick jacket. For the first time, he was grateful for the many layers of clothes Dean makes him wear to be a true Winchester.

Steve curled his hands around the jacket, and the shivering started to subside as he curled himself under the thick fabric as much as he could.

Castiel watched him for a few seconds, before sighing and turned to the right to find a very awake Charles looking up at him.

"Hello." Charles murmured with a small smile.

"Hello." Castiel sighed and laid on his back, staring up ahead. They were silent for a few minutes. He was aware of Charles' eyes on him and Steve's now steady breathing. "How?" he whispered, knowing the telepath will understand the question.

"Your distress cracked the wall around your mind." Charles answered in a whisper to not wake the sleeping soldier. "I woke up to a sentence you kept repeating in your mind very loudly, I had no choice but to hear it, along with a few flashes from your mind. So I entered through the crack to pull you out."

"I told you it was dangerous to breach my mind." Castiel murmured tiredly, not really mad just exhausted.

"Well, it is also dangerous to jump through a portal behind a mutant cripple, but you did it anyway." He could almost hear the smirk in Charles' voice as he said that.

Castiel turned his eyes towards the telepath, who was giving him a small, understanding smile.

"Thank you." he whispered softly with a small tired smile of his own.

"You are very welcome, my friend." Charles' smiled widened a little, and Castiel turned his eyes back to the barely visible sky.

They stayed silent again for a longer time. Castiel thinks he will probably not going to go back to sleep that night. He just wishes he was with Dean. He needed him. Will always need him. Everything is better when he was around. He would be able to coax him back to sleep, feeling safe that he won't face his nightmare alone again.

"I can put you back in a dreamless sleep." Charles announced quietly, pulling Castiel out of his thoughts. The angel turned to look at the telepath again. "If you let me. We don't know what we will face tomorrow. You will need your rest."

"That's what you did to Steve, right?" Castiel raised an eyebrow at him.

"He was waking up at any possible noise. He didn't sleep for days now. I don't want him to collapse." Charles answered with a small shrug. "We look out for each other, right?"

Castiel looked at him quietly for a few seconds before smiling again. "Yes, we do." He glanced over at Steve as he slept peacefully for the first time in days, then back at Charles. "Do it. Please."

A few seconds later. He was pulled into a deep dreamless sleep.

     

    

 

       


	17. Chapter 17

Steve woke up with a start in the morning.

He flinched awake and sat up to look around in a moment of confusion.

He slept. He actually managed to sleep for the first time in days. How did that happen?

Steve looked down at himself to stare in confusion at the jacket that was draped on him. He knows that jacket. Steve looked to the side at the sleeping Castiel, who was missing a jacket and the peacefully asleep Charles next to him.

He smiled softly and shook his head at the sleeping angel. He wasn’t even surprised anymore. Steve came to know that if Castiel was with you, he will look out for you more than himself. So he wasn’t surprised, he was just grateful for Castiel’s friendship.

He shook Castiel’s shoulder to wake him up, but the angel just ignored him, so he shook harder.

“Come on, Sleeping log. We need to start moving again.” He urged as he shook him a little harder, until Castiel opened his eyes to glare holes in his brain.

"Next time you wake me up, you will lose an arm." Castiel growled as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"You will just reattach it again after you are awake enough, so what's the point." Steve grinned at him as Castiel just continued to disintegrate him with his eyes.

"You two are too loud for this bloody hour." Charles slurred as he raised his head with a frown, his accent got much thicker that he balanced the line between a British lord and a pirate. "I heard that. I don’t sound like a bloody pirate, mate." He frowned as he reheard what he just said in his head and Steve couldn't help but laugh at the betrayed frown on his face and the grumpy scowl on Castiel's.

"How can he be this chipper in the morning? That can't be right." Charles muttered to Castiel as the latter started to get up.

"I have no idea. I am supposed to be the angel that doesn't technically need sleep and I hate mornings like the plague. I am more human than him." Castiel grumbled as he got up on his feet.

"You do realize that I can hear you, right?" Steve raised an eyebrow at him with an amused smile.

"I know. I just don't care." Castiel huffed as he crouched down in front of Charles to carry him this time. The telepath held on to his shoulders as he took hold of his legs and got up on his feet again.

"Of course you don't." Steve laughed before his laughter smoothed into a soft smile. "You might want to have this back." He said quietly as he held out Castiel's jacket towards him.

Castiel glanced down at for a second before looking up at Steve again. "Keep it for now. I don't really need it currently. I have more than enough layers on me." Then he walked up ahead like it was no big deal.

Steve stared after him for a second before shaking his head a little, and wrapped the jacket around his waist before following behind his friends.

***

They stayed up all night in the wide room that was supposed to be Cerebro.

They were working like a bee hive. Everyone was busy doing something. Tony, seated in a chair, was guiding Charlie, Bruce, Sam and Dean to fix up the destroyed main board. Erik was using his powers to lift up all the debris to help the others fix up the ruined room. Raven was off talking with the little telepath girl in her room.

They were trying to make Cerebro’s purpose was to only open the portal, not its original task.

“How are we going to make the portal open at the same world from before?” Sam asked curiously, looking up at Tony.

Tony frowned at the question. He didn’t think of that. “I don’t know. I assumed it will open at the same world anyway, but now not so much.”

“We can try and add in DNA samples of the three of them?” Bruce suggested, looking deep in thought.

“Why the three of them? We can just use one.” Charlie said in confusion.

“No, Bruce is right, we should use three.” Dean interjected, not looking up from his task. “Maybe each one of them ended up in a world on his own or got separated somehow, we are not actually sure the three of them are together now.”

"Shit." Tony sighed anxiously. "Alright, I can get a hair from Steve's comb. Do you have anything that has Castiel's DNA?" he asked looking up at Dean.

"I will have to go back to our room and see." Dean answered with a frown then turned towards Erik. "Hey, Giant Magnet. Do you have anything that has your husband's DNA?"

Erik turned to him with a confused look. "I believe so? Do you need it now?"

"Yeah. Come on. I need to go get Cas' too." When Tony was about to get up, Dean pushed him back down. "You're not going anywhere. Just tell me where the comb is and I will get the hair."

"But I can-"

"I don't care. Just say where it is."

"Dean, you-"

"Wrong answer."

"Come on, I am not-"

"Nope."

"Fine! It's on the dresser." Tony sighed in defeat.

"That's more like it. Come on, let's go." He turned to Erik who was now by his side.

"Winchester?" Erik muttered and Dean looked at him expectantly. "Don't ever call me 'Giant Magnet' again."

***

They walked for an hour or so before Castiel stopped suddenly and looked around, body stiff under Charles’ hands.

“Cas? What is it?” Steve asked, staring at him tensely.

“There’s something watching us.” Castiel whispered as he looked around slowly. “Not just something. Somethings. We’re surrounded.”

“What?” Steve’s body was completely tense as he readied himself to fight.

“How didn’t we feel them until now?” Charles whispered frantically.

“They don’t really have a specific form.” Castiel answered as he took a few steps back carefully. “I only felt their presence when they stayed in one form.”

“You mean they are ghosts or something?” Steve murmured as he slowly stepped in front of Castiel to keep him both and Charles safe. The angel glared indignantly and a little offended at the back of his head. Charles would have smiled in amusement in any other time.

“More like shadows.” Castiel answered, just the moment he said that, a cloud of smoke emerged from between the trees around them and stopped a few feet from them only to separate into six clouds. Each cloud started to reform into shadows of men, only these weren’t vertical on the ground, they were standing up facing them with bloody red eyes.

They stood staring at the three of them as they froze in their places, not wanting to make any sudden move that will spook the shadow men.

Then, the right arm of each shadow started to change into a knife and started to charge at them.

Charles’ blood ran cold.

“Run.” Castiel shouted frantically as he started to stumble back in a hurry. “Run, Steve! Now!”

“Good plan.” Steve shouted back, grapping a fallen tree log from the ground and threw it at the advancing shadows with all his strength, then took a run for it right behind Castiel and Charles.

The shadows chased behind them immediately after dodging the log.

“What are those things?!” Steve yelled as he ran beside Castiel.

“The creatures that lives in this world apparently.” Castiel answered as his grip tightened on Charles, so he won’t fall off.

“Why did they appear now and not yesterday?” Charles asked while looking behind them to see that the shadows were still following them.

“They might have been there the whole time and we didn’t sense them.” Castiel muttered in frustration. “Maybe they are the reason why our powers aren’t working properly.”

“How the hell are we going to fight shadows? We are unarmed and you can’t exactly punch a shadow.” Steve panted as they ran through the trees, trying to shake off their chasers.

Castiel was about to answer, but was suddenly grabbed by Steve, who pulled him back when he was about to run directly towards a cliff.

They stood there panting, a cliff in front of them and armed shadows running towards them from behind.

***

Dean walked around the room trying to find anything with Cas’ DNA on it.

Which was a lot harder than he thought, since Cas didn’t actually use a comb, Dean usually ran his fingers through the angel’s hair to tame it a little, because the adorable fucker won’t bother to do it himself. Or he just likes it when Dean did it for him.

So Dean found himself on the bed, running his fingers on Cas’ pillow to see if there was a stray hair on it.

 He still couldn’t believe that less than twenty four hours ago, Castiel was here, sleeping in Dean’s arms. Maybe not peacefully, but at least he was here.

He wasn’t mad that Castiel jumped after Charles. It was Cas, of course he will jump into a portal behind a friend. He was just tired. Tired from the constant separation. Every few months, they had to get separated somehow. Cas had to get hurt somehow. Or worse.

He knew that with the lives they lead, things will always go wrong, but why does it always have to be Cas? Why his angel was always the one who gets screwed?

His heart banged in regret when he realized that Tony and Steve were also suffering. Somehow, Steve also gets screwed along with Cas one way or another.

It was always like this. Dean and Tony always found themselves suffering like they were cursed to suffer all the time.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt panic rises inside him sharply it took his breath away for moment. He froze in confusion. He wasn’t panicked. Then why was he feeling panic and fear inside him suddenly?

That’s when it dawned on him.

This wasn’t his panicked fear. It was Castiel’s.

Their bond is still effective even worlds apart.

Which means Castiel was in danger.

***

Castiel was trying not to panic for the sake of his two companions but was failing.

They were cornered and unarmed. Those shadows will reach them and they will have no way of defending themselves.

The only way for them to get out of this was by his grace, which was blocked somehow but he had no other choice.

He slowly lowered Charles to the ground, much to the telepath’s confusion and fear, and stepped forward.

“Cas, what are you doing?” Steve’s panicked voice called out frantically.

“Only my grace can get us out of this.” Castiel answered firmly, eyes trained on the shadows, which got dangerously closer.

“You said your grace is blocked!”

“Well, I am about to find out if I can unblock it.”

He didn’t hear Steve’s panicked replay and just raised his hand palm out and closed his eyes to try to focus as hard as he could on his grace.

He heard Steve’s and Charles’ frantic voices calling out for him, probably because one of the shadows almost reached him, but he started to feel his grace responding as he focused, he couldn’t lose that now.

Then he found himself being pushed to the side, the sound of a knife piercing through something and Charles’ shout.

He opened his eyes frantically to see one of the shadows with its hand knife buried deep into Steve’s middle.

No. No, that can’t be happening. He felt a cold shiver run through him as Steve gasped and stumbled to fall on his back and Charles crawling to reach him. When the shadow raised its knife again towards Steve, he felt a bright white rage explode through him and he growled as he grabbed the shadow and threw him towards its approaching companions, his eyes shining bright white as his grace pretty much exploded with his fury.

“Close your eyes!” he shouted to his friends before letting go.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

“So, what you are saying is that you feel your husband’s emotions?”

Erik asked carefully as he stared at Dean in bewilderment, who was looking uncomfortably at the amount of eyes staring back at him.

“Well, only if he felt a particularly strong emotion, which doesn’t happen often since Cas is pretty composed.” Dean answered with a nervous frown on his face. He was still rattled by the wave of Cas’ panic that washed over him. If he focus enough, he can still feel the panic there. He caught Erik’s look and glared at him. “Your husband can read minds and you control metal and this is bewildering you?”

“Good point.” Erik shrugged but still looked a little bewildered.

“How is that possible?” Raven asked in confusion.

“We’re soul-bonded, or Grace-soul bond more accurately.” He explained while pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, his head injury was making his head about to explode any minute now. “I have a part of Cas’ grace inside me and he has a part of my soul. Like I said, we only feel each other’s emotions if it was strong enough.”

“And you just felt Cas’ panic.” Tony stated, a worried frown on his face. “Cas never panicked. What the hell is happening there?”

Dean looked helplessly at Tony’s desperate face, unable to answer him. Because he desperately wants to know what’s happening in that fucking world too. If Cas was panicking then something terrible happened.

“This is just-wow.” Raven was staring in awe at Dean.

“What if you focused on the link between you really hard?” Erik questioned frantically. “Maybe you will be able to hear his thoughts or might even see what he is seeing. Have you ever tried that before?”

“No.” Dean frowned in contemplation. “I don’t think it works that way.”

“Maybe if you did focus on the part of Castiel inside you, you might be able to do it.” Sam encouraged enthusiastically.

“Sam, I have no idea if that even will-“

“Can you just try?” Tony cut him off desperately. “Please. We need to know what’s going on there, Dean.”

Dean chewed on his lower lip as he trailed his eyes over his team, who was staring at him desperately, asking him to try.

He sighed then closed his eyes to focus. It was hard with feeling all those eyes trained on him, but he tried. He had to try. It wasn’t just about Cas alone. Steve and Charles were there too. Even with the panic, he didn’t feel any pain in Cas then. Just panic, fear and rage. That could mean that one of his partners was hurt. Or worse.

They had to know.

He took a deep breath as he focused on that white light that he could see a glimmer of in the back of his mind. He saw it a lot of times before, even in his dreams. Some part inside him always told him it was the part of Castiel in him, but never dared to get close to it.

So he focused on it this time as he got closer and closer. Saw it as it got bigger. He can hear voices now. Not his team’s voices. He can hear Cas’ voice shouting something, another voice with a British accent. _Charles._ He got even closer to the light and the voices got louder and louder. He pushed forward to the last meters and suddenly, he was no longer in the mansion surrounded by his family.

He opened his eyes and felt himself somewhere else but only for three seconds. Those seconds were enough for him to see three things.

First, a blue forest with very thick trees.

Second, Charles’ panicked face staring at him, or rather at Castiel since he apparently was seeing through his eyes.     

And lastly, Steve Rogers on the ground, blood covering his middle with an agonized look on his face.

Fuck.

_Dammit, Dean!_

He heard the sentence in Castiel’s voice echoing through his head before gasping sharply, and he was back in his own head with his team.

He stumbled a little, Erik and Thor steadied him since they were the closest to him then.

He looked around as he panted to see all eyes staring at him in shocked silence.

“What?” he rasped as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Your eyes.” Natasha said, eyes wide. “They changed into blue when you spaced out.”

“It looked like Cas’ eyes.” Sam whispered, blinking at him in awe.

“God, you actually did it.” Bruce murmured in wonder. “This is unbelievable.”

“What did you see?” Tony urged him as looked at him frantically. “Did you see something?”

Dean hesitated at that, which made everyone straight up in alarm.

“Dean, what did you see?” Thor asked carefully, unusually quiet.

“Did you see Charles?” Erik asked him, a tremble in his voice he was obviously trying to hide. His hand still clutching Dean’s arm.

“Yeah, I saw him.” He said, looking at Erik. “He seemed fine, I didn’t see any injuries on him.”

Erik visibly relaxed but then Tony rounded on him.

“And Steve?” he questioned, while standing up from the chair he was sitting on.

“You should stay sitting.” Dean tried to divert him by pushing him carefully towards the chair.

“Did you see Steve?” Tony pressed on, refusing Dean’s help. “Answer my question, Dean.”

“I was there for only three seconds, Tony. I don’t-“

“Don’t bullshit me. You saw him. You are hiding from me what you saw. Just tell me! What happened to Steve?”

“He is hurt, okay?!” Dean blurted out in frustration and immediately regretted it when his words fell like lightening on everyone on the room, especially Tony who was staring at him, frozen. “All I saw was him on his back, bloody. But he was alive. I know that. The serum will heal him, Tony. Or maybe Cas, I don’t know but he will be fine. I’m sure of it.”

Tony slowly sat back on the chair and stared at the floor with wide eyes and emotionless face, before looking up at Raven.

“Get the telepathic girl.” He let out in a trembling voice. “Now.”

***

Castiel didn’t even check if the shadows were dead, before rushing towards the bleeding soldier on the ground. Ignoring how weak he was from using his grace.

“Do you have a death wish?!” he shouted angrily at his face but the tremor in his voice was obvious. “Do you have any idea how many times I saw you all bloody? Are you starting to enjoy it or something?!”

“Oh, yeah. I love the sight of my own blood being spilled.” Steve rolled his eyes and glared up at him, while clutching at his still bleeding wound in his middle. “It washes me from inside. A way to get rid of bad blood. Works faster than detox.”

“You are not being funny. This will never be funny in any world.”

“You were about to get killed! I wasn’t just going to stand there and watch!”

“I’d have been fine! In case you haven’t noticed, I am an angel! It wouldn’t have killed me even if I wanted it to!”

“You’d have been still hurt! I promised Dean I will look out for you and that what I will do!”

“I don’t care! You will stop doing this or I will kill you myself!”

“I will stop when you stop.”

“You little-“

“Do you really think you should be arguing right now?” Charles cut in looking frustrated. “We need to stop the bleeding! Now.”

“Fine. How-“

Castiel suddenly gasped as he felt himself being pulled out of his own mind.

Suddenly, he was back in the mansion, looking back at his family’s concerned faces, but he knew immediately that he wasn’t looking from his own eyes.

He was seeing through Dean’s eyes.

Apparently, Dean focused hard enough on their bond to see what he was seeing.

At the worst possible moment.

“Dammit, Dean!” he shouted in his own mind before forcing himself back into his own head.

But it was probably too late. Dean already saw the injured Steve.

So now Tony knew Steve was hurt.

Great. Just great.

He blinked back inside his own mind only to see his two partners staring at him in worry.

“What just happened to you?” Steve panted as he ignored his own situation and focused on Castiel.

“Your eyes just changed into green. What does that mean?” Charles asked in worry as he tried to press down on Steve’s wound to stop the bleeding.

“Well, that was Dean taking a peak through my eyes.” Castiel pierced his lips in frustration. “Which means Tony probably knows you are injured now.”

“Fuck.” Steve let out a pained sound as he tried to get up but only gasped when the pain intensified. “Did you see him? How is he?”

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Castiel shouted as he pushed him back on the ground, the wound was still bleeding heavily even with Charles’ hands pressed down on it.

“Just tell me-uh.” He gasped again as he slumped weakly on the ground.

“We need to stop the bleeding.” Charles repeated frantically when he saw the dazed look in Steve’s eyes. “He lost way too much blood.”

Castiel looked around anxiously, until he noticed a sharp looking rock a few feet away. He grabbed it and tried to use his grace again even with how wiped out he was from smiting five shadows earlier. His grace managed to work for a few seconds, which was enough to make the sharp rock hot enough for what he want.

He returned to Steve’s side, who was watching him in a dazed confusion and nodded towards Charles.

“Alright, Steve. What is your favorite color?” Charles asked the soldier with an innocent smile.

“What? What are-“

Steve’s sentence turned into a loud scream as Castiel immediately raised Steve’s T-shirt and pressed the hot rock against the gaping wound.

Steve panted in exhaustion and pain, as he looked at the both of them incredulously.

“They say it will hurt less if you are distracted.” Charles shrugged apologetically at him.

“Did you just pull a Stark Trek: Beyond on me? Now?” Steve accused as he fought to keep his eyes open.

“I love that movie.”

“Well, now I hate it.”

“And now the bleeding stopped. You’re welcome.” Castiel muttered as he shrugged off his over shirt and wrapped it tightly around Steve’s middle as a makeshift bandages.

“I keep stripping you. This is wrong, since you are not my type and I am happily married.” Steve drowsed with half opened eyes. “I like short, stubborn brunettes. You are tall. So, no.”

Castiel gave him a bitchface, while Charles couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped him.

“Well, I didn’t raise you from perdition, so you are not my type either.” Castiel rolled his eyes as he finished tying the shirt.

“Good. That’s-that’s good. Cause you’re a brother t-to me, it’d have been weird.” With that, Steve closed his eyes and passed out.

Castiel stared at his unconscious form, before looking up at Charles, who stared right back at him. Even with how delirious from the pain Steve was, his words warmed Castiel’s heart.

“Uhm, Cas?” Charles called hesitantly. Castiel looked at him expectantly. “We need to move to a safer place. But how are you going to carry the both of us?”

Castiel blinked at him dumbly for a few seconds, switching his gaze between him and Steve before answering with one word. “Fuck.”

         

     


	19. Chapter 19

“I am not sure about this.”

Sam muttered as he watched Erik and Raven as they knelt in front of a little red haired girl, talking to her softly.

“About what?” Dean asked even though he knew what Sam was talking about. He was sure about that plan until he laid eyes on the little girl.

Jean Grey was her name. A pretty little girl with too much power that she had no idea how to control. This was dangerous on her and on them. He didn’t know what he will do if the poor girl was hurt in any way from this. No one ever used Cerebro except for Charles, because it was designed specifically for him. It might act up badly if a foreign brain attached to it. So many things could go wrong.

But they had no other choice. Cas was now in a very bad situation. Steve was hurt. That means that something had hurt him, and Castiel was left to fight off whatever that something was on his own to protect himself, Steve and Charles. Even if Cas can handle it usually, Dean felt his weakness there. It was a mess. A terrible mess and Dean could literally feel Tony’s fear and panic a mile away from how aggressively he was fiddling with the mainboard, while Charlie and Bruce stood nervously next to him.

Everything was going wrong very fast and Dean had no idea what to do other than using the poor little girl.

And he hates himself for it.

“You know what I am talking about.” Sam sighed in frustration. “She is just a little gi-“

“If you have any better ideas, I am open for suggestions.” Dean cut him off with a glare. "In case you haven't noticed, they are in trouble. Steve is hurt, which is horrible. Tony will be even more erratic than usual, he is also injured and refusing to stay put and now he looks pale as a sheet and about to collapse any moment, and he isn't listening to me. So we don't exactly have the luxury of another option right now."

Sam just pierced his lips as he stared at Dean for a few seconds silently.

"She is going to be safe?" Sam asked quietly after a few moments.

"I don't know, but I don't think any one of the geniuses will let her get hurt."

"I know that, but will she be safe from herself if her powers went out of control? She is pretty powerful."

"We'll find out soon enough." He muttered as he saw Erik approaching towards them, Jean gripping his hand tightly with her little one.

Dean crouched down in front of Jean, when she was close enough and gave her a gentle smile.

“Hi, Jean, right?” she nodded carefully. “That’s a very lovely name. It suits you.” he grinned when she flushed a little.

“Thank you, sir.” She murmured softly and looked down at her feet.

“Just Dean, please.” He placed a gentle hand on her small shoulder. “You know why we need your help?”

“You want me to help bring the professor back.” She answered immediately.

“And you are willing to do it?”

She looked up at Erik, who was watching them with a tired look on his face. They were all tired. No one rested since what happened.

“I’d do anything to help the professor.” She said with a cute determined look on her little face.

“Atta girl.” Dean patted her on the shoulder gently. “You are a fierce little girl. And a powerful one too. Now go with Raven to tell what we will need.”

She nodded then went to Raven, who was talking with Charlie a few feet away and seemed to be enjoying the conversation a little too much from the wide smile on her face. Huh.

Dean got back to his feet to face Erik as he studied him tiredly.

“Do you think she can do it?” Sam asked Erik as he watched the little girl.

“I don’t know.” The mutant shrugged with a sigh. “She is quite young. Doesn’t know how to use her powers yet, but we don’t really have a choice currently.” He hesitated before looking back at Dean. “Do you think Castiel will be able to keep them alive long enough?”

“Of course he will, he is Cas.” Dean answered confidently. “He will make sure to bring Charles and Steve back.”

“Stark seemed to be about to snap, and when he snapped, bad things happened. Reckless, dangerous things. This could go wrong in so many ways.”

“Come on, it’s Tony. He is always reckless. Nothing new about that really. It’s going to be fine.”

Erik was about to say something else, when Tony came over and gripped his arm.

“Lehnsherr, come on. I need your help in something.” He muttered and ignored Erik’s shocked look as he dragged him away.

Dean smirked a little, then turned to Sam, who was staring at Natasha as she helped Thor and Bucky in repairing a fallen part of the wall.

“Hey, sasquatch, what’s going on with the two of you?” Dean nudged his shoulder to get his attention.

“Nothing.” Sam murmured as he looked away, while fiddling with his pant pocket.

Dean raised an eyebrow at him as he stared so hard, until Sam was getting fidgety.

Until it hit him.

“Holy shit, you decided to finally do it!” Dean exclaimed with a huge grin.

“Do what?”

“Bend the knee and make yourself an honest man.”

“Shh, can you say it any louder?” Sam shushed him frantically as looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Yes, okay? Happy now? And don’t say ‘Bend the knee’ you made me feel like I am proposing to Daenerys or something.”

“Wow. Dude, wow. Why didn’t you do it yet? Also Nat is way more badass than Daenerys in my opinion. And scarier.”

“I never found the right time. And I am a little scared.”

“Scared?” Dean frowned at him in confusion. “Do you actually think she will say no?” Sam just shrugged and looked away. “You’re an idiot.”

“I will do it okay? I just need the right moment, that’s all.”

“And when that will be?”

“After we get the guys back.” Sam sighed in defeat. “The moment they are back. I will do it.”

***

Castiel was tired.

That damned world wasn't agreeing with him very well. He was tired, weak, hungry and just wanted to get his partners back in one piece.

He panted as he carried Steve on his back with one arm, while the other arm was carrying Charles, who was holding on to Steve’s arms so neither one of them would fall off. He wasn't complaining, but he was worried he will collapse with his load any second. He thought about dragging Steve, but it will hurt the soldier even more.

He was glad that there was no shadow attack again so far. Hopefully, it will remain that way.

It's been hours of walking, Steve still unconscious, while Charles was avoiding his eyes, like he was blaming himself for Castiel's current sticky situation. He didn't blame Charles for anything. Not for ending up in this world or Steve's injury. It was no one's fault really, but the telepath was blaming himself nonetheless.

He finally saw a cave and almost collapsed in relief when he laid eyes on it. He marched towards it with all the strength he still had.

"You think we will be safe here?" Charles asked quietly as he studied the cave when they reached it.

 "We don't really have a choice. Those shadows may attack again now that they know we are here." Castiel answered as they entered the cave and started to walk deeper inside it. "We should be safe here till morning. Hopefully."

When he felt that they were deep enough, he gently sat Charles on the ground, before laying Steve carefully too.

The cave was cold. Much colder than outside. Steve and Charles started shivering the moment he sat them on the cold floor. He covered Steve’s body with his own jacket again but didn’t seem to do much this time.

Castiel trailed his eyes between their shivering forms for a second, before walking back the way they came from.

“Where are you going?” Charles asked in confusion as he pulled Steve’s jacket tighter around his body.

“I will be right back.” He called over his shoulder as he walked.

When he was back in the forest, he started gathering falling branches as much as he could carry in his tired arms before making his way inside the cave again.

Charles looked up when Castiel returned and raised an eyebrow at the branches as the angel kneeled down to arrange them on the ground, then took two rocks and hit them together a few times over the branches until a fire started.

“Don’t you think a fire will be too obvious?” Charles asked even as he scooted closer towards the warmth of the fire.

“We’re deep inside the cave. Besides, we are dealing with shadows here that only appeared when it is night. Maybe the light of this fire will keep them away.” Castiel answered tiredly as he flopped down on the ground beside Charles and watched Steve as his shivering subsided finally.

 They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, Castiel trying to catch his breath while Charles got warm.

“The both of you became fast friends.” Charles commented after being silent for a while now. He wasn’t asking, he was just stating a fact.

“Yes, I suppose we did.” Castiel answered anyway as he watched the slow rise and fall of Steve’s chest.

“That must have been very overwhelming for you. At first you only had Sam and Dean. Then suddenly you were pulled into a team of superheroes that obviously adored you in their own, strange way.” Charles smiled a little as he looked at him.

“It was overwhelming. But I got used to it fast enough. I still find it strange how our life changed in the past months since we met the Avengers but it was a good change.”

“It is nice to see Tony and Dean’s friendship too. It is as hilarious as it is nice. I am pretty sure they will never stop bickering until the day they die.”

“I am sure they will still do that even in heaven.” Castiel smiled a little wistfully. He felt Charles’ eyes resting on him and he just stared straight ahead.

“I know I shouldn’t ask this.” The telepath started a little hesitantly. “But where does the angels go when they, you know, die?”

Castiel tensed a little before answering quietly. “The Empty. Where we just sleep for eternity.”

“So you don’t go to heaven?”

“I am not allowed into heaven anymore. Even if I became human. My soul won’t be allowed there.”

Charles studied him silently for a few seconds. “This is the reason of that nightmare, right?” he whispered carefully. “You are afraid of being the last survivor. Even if you managed to die, you still won’t be able to follow him.”

Castiel’s heart stuttered as he heard his fear being voiced loudly. He was caught off guard and didn’t know how to deal with it right now with everything else happening.

“If Steve and Tony died, they will be together in heaven.” Castiel murmured as he stared into the fire. “You and Erik too. Everyone will be together even after death. Dean and I? Not so much.” He wasn’t sure why he was talking, maybe to get it out of his chest. “It will be over. I will never be able to follow him. I will be either roaming the Earth forever on my own in a ruined world, or sleeping for eternity in the Empty. And I don’t want either.”

Charles placed a careful hand on his shoulder, like he thought it wasn’t welcomed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked about this. It’s just-You and Dean. An Angel that threw everything that he believed in for a human. I never thought an Angel was capable of that.”

“I never regretted it. Not once.” The angel turned to meet Charles’ eyes. “Dean is everything. I’d do it over and over again. Without hesitation.”

Charles smiled as he watched him. “About the end. You won’t be able to enjoy your present if you were too busy worrying about the future. Who knows what will happen. Maybe the end is still far and not that bad. Maybe by that time, you will find a way back to heaven.”

“How?” Castiel sighed and looked away.

“We’ll figure it out.” Steve’s voice cut in making the both of them look up at him, startled. They didn’t notice when he woke up. He was still lying on the floor. A pained but determined look on his face as he stared at Castiel.

“Steve, what-“

“No, you listen to me.” The soldier cut him off firmly, even in his weak state. “We will figure it out then. Castiel, you are one of the best, kindest men I ever met. You will get your happy ending. You will be with your love. Because you deserve it. And anyone that will stand in the way of that, I will personally punch them in their face. You have my word.”

“I know you will.” Castiel smiled at the soldier, who smiled back weakly at him.

“Until then, let’s make sure to live first, before worrying about any of that. Because I am not really planning to die this soon without spending decades with my idiot back home.”

 


	20. Chapter 20

“Everything is set?”

Dean asked as he stood beside Tony and Erik. The room was rebuilt as much as they could. Jean was ready, the helmet in her hands as she fidgeted nervously with it. Charlie was doing some last touches with Raven next to her. The others are by the door, half out and half in so they won’t get in the way.

“Yeah, I think we’re ready.” Charlie answered as she looked up at Dean. “Jean can start when she is ready.”

“I am ready.” The little girl said with as much determination as she could manage, which was very impressive.

“Alright, let’s place this on your little head.” Tony gave her a tired smile as Charlie and Raven placed the too big helmet on her head.

“This is going to work, right?” Erik muttered, his body tense and rigid. “It won’t open a portal in a completely different world or something?”

“We added their DNA. So it should open wherever they are right now.” Bruce answered him from behind.

“Hopefully nothing will go wrong.” Dean sighed as he watched Jean.

“We will start now.” Tony announced, a little shakily. His whole body tense and looked about to snap.

They all held their breaths when Cerebro started to work.

At first nothing happened, Jean might be powerful but she had no solid grip on her powers like Charles. So what appeared in front of them were flashes of the blue and red silhouettes they saw when Charles used it before, but they were moving a little faster than with Charles.

Jean was gripping the helmet hard as she tried to focus. Her knuckles were white from how hard she was gripping it.

“Come on, kid. You can do it.” Tony encouraged her as he anxiously searched for any sign of the portal.

“I-I can’t control it.” Jean let out, her voice was starting to panic. The silhouettes were moving faster and faster now.

“You might want to slow down a little, Jean.” Erik called out as he started to look around nervously.

“I can’t! it’s too much! I can’t.” she yelled before electric sparks scattered from the mainboard, making Charlie yelp as Raven pulled her back immediately.

Everyone in the room panicked then.

“Stop it. Remove the helmet!” Erik yelled as he and Dean rushed forward towards Jean.

“Guys, look.” Tony called out as he stared with wide eyes around the room.

Instead of the silhouettes now, there were a dozen of balls of lights that were increasing in size at alarming speed.

They immediately knew what that was.

“Everybody out! Now!” Dean shouted as he pulled at Tony to drag him out. Erik removed the helmet from Jean’s head, but the damage already happened.

All the balls of light jumped suddenly in size, until there was a dozen wide opened portals around the room that was trying to suck everyone inside them.

He saw Raven pushing Charlie and Jean to the floor before joining them, to keep them away from a close portal.

“Dean! Watch out!” Sam yelled as he rushed forward to push Dean and Tony away from a portal that was about to suck them, but then he stumbled and didn’t manage to get away in time.

“Sam!” both Dean and Natasha screamed in panic as Sam disappeared through the portal.

Dean found himself and Tony being dragged towards the floor by Erik, who pushed their bodies down to not be caught in another portal.

“Wait, Sam! Sam was pulled there! We need-“

He looked up to see the whole team trying to escape from being sucked, he heard an alarming shout to see Bruce on the floor as he was pushed out of a portal’s way by Thor, who in return was also pulled inside the portal.

It was a mess. A fucking mess. He heard another panicked yell of Bucky’s name by Wilson’s voice and immediately knew that Bucky was also gone. Probably also was trying to keep Wilson from getting sucked.

A few seconds later, everything stopped. They all slowly looked up to see that all the portals disappeared suddenly.

Erik moved off of Dean and Tony. The hunter got back to his feet and helped a stunned Tony up.

They looked around at the frozen team. Missing Sam, Thor and Bucky. Who were now also pulled into probably the same world as Steve, Cas and Charles.

No one said anything as they looked at each other in loss of words.

“God.” Clint let out after a few minutes. “These portals really hates couples.”

Dean would have laughed at any other time, but the raging headache that hit his brain was making it a little hard.

“We just made everything worse.” Tony uttered, his face pale as he looked around. “Much worse.”

Cas was gone. Sam was gone. And four of his friends were also gone.

He stumbled a little as the pain in his head got much worse.

“Dean?” he heard Natasha and Tony calling out to him in concern.

“I’m fine.” He let out painfully before feeling blood slipping from his nose. So much for being fine.

Then he collapsed.

Last thing he comprehended was his name being called by everyone in the room in panicked voices, then Tony and Erik’s faces staring down at him in worry.

Then everything went dark.

***

“Well, the serum seemed to be doing its work. A little slowly, but better than nothing.”

Castiel commented as he checked Steve’s wound carefully, while Steve grimaced in pain.

“It shouldn’t be working this slow.” He panted as he stared down at himself. He was a complete mess. His clothes bloody, his middle was being wrapped again by Castiel’s shirt and he was wearing the angel’s jacket under his persistence.

He followed Castiel to help him. Instead, he just made everything worse for the three of them.

“Your healing is probably also affected by this bloody world.” Charles said from where he was sitting a few feet away from them. “Our powers might be affected because we don’t belong here. The physical way this world works is specific for the shadows and not to our bodies.”

“So, this world is rejecting us. Good, we are not planning to stay here for long anyway.” Castiel muttered as he finished tying the shirt around Steve’s middle.

“You are quite good at this.” Charles commented as he looked at Castiel curiously.

“You have no idea how many times Dean or Sam got hurt.” Castiel sighed as he got up to his feet. “Not always I was able to heal them. I am not as strong as before. My grace became limited.”

“That doesn’t make you any less a badass believe me.” Steve smiled weakly up at him. “You probably will still be able to kick my ass even if you became human.”

“After you break several parts of me.” Castiel rolled his eyes as he bend down to help Steve stand up. He then crouched down before Charles, who immediately grabbed his shoulders as he stood up.

“Why can’t we stay in this cave?” Charles asked in confusion.

“We shouldn’t stay at the same place for too long. Those shadows could find us again.” Castiel answered as he moved to help Steve walk.

“I can walk on my own.” Steve insisted stubbornly even though he was swaying and a little dazed from the blinding pain in his middle, but he was not letting Castiel carry the both of them again.

Castiel raised an eyebrow at him, before ignoring him and grabbed Steve’s arm to wrap it around his shoulder and moved to wrap his own arm around Steve’s back.

“Cas, I said I can-“

“Shut up. Let’s go.”

Steve glared at him as he refused to let go, but then sighed and obliged. There was no point in arguing anyway, since he was really hurt to walk on his own anyway.

“I thought you said you are not planning to carry me too if I collapsed.” Steve murmured with a tired smile.

“I lied.” Was Castiel’s short answer as they got out of the cave and started to walk through the blue forest again.

“You are terrible liar.”

After walking for an hour or so, Castiel froze suddenly, his entire body tense.

“What? What is it? The shadows again?” Charles looked around frantically, as expecting to see the cloud of smoke again.

“No, not the shadows.” Castiel answered as he looked up at the sky. “There’s something else happening.”

“What something else? What’s going on?” Steve also looked up, expecting to see something but nothing was happening.

Then the ground started to shake beneath them and they heard a loud crack sound coming from the sky.

They tensed and took a few steps back as they stared nervously up at the sky, as a ball of light appeared suddenly and was increasing in size rapidly.

“Wait, isn’t this sight a little familiar?” Steve whispered as he looked at the ball with wide eyes.

“A portal is opening.” Castiel confirmed his thoughts as he also stared up.

“Maybe they managed to open it back home.” Charles said hopefully. “This could be our rescue. Can you fly us up there?”

“Yeah, but-“

Before he could finish, the portal opened suddenly and threw three bodies from the sky, then closed again in a matter of seconds.

“Never mind.” Charles sighed in defeat.

They heard screaming coming from the three bodies that were falling towards them. They couldn’t tell who they were from this far, but soon they will find out.

They took one step back as the first body got close enough.

They stared blankly as Sam Winchester’s body hit the ground in front of them with an oof sound. Then Thor appearing next and fell on top of the poor Winchester, who yelled in pain, next Bucky Barnes joined the party falling on top of the other men hard.

The three of them watched silently as their friends tried to untangle themselves from each other.

“Thor, get off of me, you are heavy!” Sam yelled as he tried to push him off.

“I could not move with Barnes’ body on me!”

“Help me get up then, instead of pulling me down!” Bucky yelled as he struggled to get up.

“Hey, guys.” Steve greeted with a raised eyebrow at the bickering men.

They looked up at them, when they finally noticed their presence, before scrambling to their feet fast.

“My friends! We found you!” Thor grinned at them jovially, while Sam and Bucky stumbled as they recovered from the hard hit. “We came to save you! Kind of. It did not go as we originally planned.”

Steve, Castiel and Charles shared a look before turning back towards their friends.

“Our heroes.” They said dryly together with identical blank looks on their faces.

 

 

  

 

       


	21. Chapter 21

“So, team blue-eyed beauties were gone, then followed by team long-haired hunks, and now team self-loathing sexy beasts are all in one room feeling miserable for themselves?”

Charlie summarized their situation rather eloquently, that even Raven couldn’t help herself but crack a small smile in amusement. Her description was rather accurate if she was being honest.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Bruce sighed as he sunk down in his seat tiredly.

“Wait, what team are we?” Clint asked, looking genuinely curious about the answer.

“Seriously? That’s what you care about right now?” Wilson raised an eyebrow in frustration at him.

“I need to know!”

“I don’t know. There’s nothing in common between anyone in this room.” Charlie shrugged in confusion. “Maybe team neutrally cool? Or team Third-wheels. Oh, wait! Team No issues!”

“I am pretty sure I have my fair share of issues.” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, looking unamused.

“And we are not third wheels.” Clint declared indignantly.

“Fine, team neutrally cool it is.”

“Now that we are done with that.” Wilson glared at them with a frown. “What are we going to do now? We failed and now it’s even worse.”

“Yeah, you didn’t even get a chance for a second date.” Charlie looked sympathetically at him.

“Okay, since you brought that up.” Clint rounded on Wilson first then Bruce. “How am I the last one to know that you are fucking Barnes and you fucking Thor?”

“I am not fucking Thor. We are together. It is more serious than just a roll in the hay.” Bruce looked at him in disapproval. “It’s been serious for a long while now.”

“Hopefully, Bucky and I are headed for the same direction.” Wilson muttered wistfully. “Not that we had enough time to figure that out before the idiot pushed me away from a portal so he could fall into it himself.”

“Still! How am I the last to know?!” Clint repeated, looking offended. “So, now I am the awkward single dude in this team. This is not fair.”

Raven toned out Clint’s childish ranting, when Charlie turned to her with a small smile.

“How are you holding up?” she whispered softly to her, her eyes bright. Raven was confused. She could see interest in the red haired woman’s eyes. How can she be interested in her when Raven was in her true form? How does not that bother her?  

“Better than most.” Raven answered with a sigh. “I am worried. Even though I know Charles is far from being alone there and he is much safer than before, but I am terrified of not being able to help them back.”

“Hey, we will not give up on them.” Charlie turned fully towards her and took her hand a little hesitantly at first, but when Raven didn’t pull away, she became bolder. “We are pretty stubborn if you haven’t noticed. There’s two brothers of mine sucked there and my third brother is unconscious upstairs. So, no. we are not giving up.” She then leaned a little closer as she eyed Raven a little hesitantly. “And after we bring them back safe and sound, what do you think about going out getting a coffee or something? If you want, I mean.”

Raven was taken aback as she stared at Charlie with wide eyes. “Wait, really? Even when I-I mean, looking like this?” she asked self-consciously.

“Well, yeah. Blue has always been my color.” Charlie just shrugged with a crooked smile that made Raven flush a little. “Besides, I think you look beautiful.”

She couldn’t help the blush or the pleased smile that took place on her face as she looked at Charlie. “Alright. After we bring them back, of course.”

“It’s a date.” Charlie grinned happily at her.

“Seriously?!” Clint’s voice made them flinch as they turned to look at him like he was crazy. “Even you scored a date?! Is there even anyone still single besides me?”

“I think Rhodey is single.” Wilson offered with a sigh.

“No, he is dating Pepper for a while now.” Bruce corrected. Obviously, he couldn’t help but look in amusement at Clint as he said that.

“So what? I go ask Coulson out or something? Or maybe even Logan.”

“I am pretty sure Logan will eat you alive if you tried.” Raven just smirked at him.

Then Bruce added. “And I think Coulson is already seeing-“

“Oh, come on!”

***

Tony sat on a chair next to Dean's bedside, Natasha sat on the other side of the bed, gently cleaning the blood that fell from Dean's nose earlier, while Erik stood silently at the doorway.

Tony watched Dean's still body with a bang in his chest that didn't have anything to do with his broken ribs. It was painful to see Dean Winchester, a force of nature, the man who manages to fill the room just by being there, still on a bed with a pale face and not snarking the hell out of Tony.

He was losing the most important people in his life and he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening.

He was useless.

"I called the hospital to ask them about his injury." Natasha cut the heavy silence, successfully pulling Tony from his own head.

"And what did they say?" he asked looking up at her as he adjusted the sling around his stupid broken arm.

"Apparently, the idiot had a serious concussion and a few internal injuries that he wasn't planning to tell us about." She frowned down at Dean's still form, like she was planning to burn him alive.   

"Why am I not surprised?" Tony sighed tiredly as he cursed Dean in his head. The idiot apparently was too occupied with Tony's own stupid injuries to pay any mind to his own stupid injuries. A typical Dean thing to do. No wonder him and Cas work out so perfectly together. They are both fucking idiots.

"I am going to murder him when he wakes up." She said grimly but he couldn’t sense any venom in her words. She just looked sad and tired. Of course she is, she just lost her lover too, so Natasha was officially a member in loverless club along with Bruce and Wilson.

What a fucking mess.

"No, you are not." He murmured as he watched Dean's stuttered breaths, obviously he was in pain. "You will wish to do it, but the moment he will look at you, you will find yourself scrambling to make him a soup or something. I tried before and a few minutes later, I was in my workshop making him a new gun. I think it is a curse or something."

"Or a part of his stupid charm." She smiled a little before standing up. "I will look for some painkillers for him when he wakes up, then check on the others."

He nodded at her as she made her way towards the door. Lehnsherr moved away to let her pass, but remained by the door.

A few minutes passed in silence, before the mutant finally decided to enter the room to sit on the chair Natasha occupied a few minutes ago.

He wasn't sure why Lehnsherr was even here. He didn't think that the metal bender will trust Dean this fast and now he was sitting by his bedside? Could Erik really started to care for Dean or something? That will be a first, since Lehnsherr would usually tries to kill you first, before deciding to tolerate your existence.

They didn't talk for a long while. Sure, Tony decided to be at least civil to the mutant, but they didn't actually talk about anything but the task at hand. But now the task failed and they were sitting in the ruins of their plan.

This is just fantastic.

"He is a good man." Erik cut the silence suddenly, that Tony looked up at him, a little startled. He was obviously talking about Dean.

"Yeah, he is." He answered shortly as he looked away from the mutant. It was still hard, but at least he didn't snap or insult him so far. Tony should get a gold star for that.

“He must be. If you trust him this much.” The metal bender commented, not really looking at Tony. He was just gazing at Dean contemplatively.

“I trust him with my life.” Tony murmured a little wistfully, as he too trailed his eyes towards Dean’s too still form. The hunter should never be this still. It wasn’t right. “I know he will always have my back. Even when he doesn’t have to. Even if I was being an idiot.”

“That is a very nice friendship you have there.” Erik said, still not looking at Tony. This was probably the longest conversation he had with Lehnsherr since The incident. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Especially now. “Don’t ever let go of it. Friendships like that are hard to find.”

“I won’t.”

They fell silent after that for a long while, neither really looking at the other.

Tony didn’t have a moment to think about what happened earlier. He was trying so hard to ignore the fact that he used a little girl for her powers, only to make everything worse and lose another three of his family. Again, his fault. He was really on a roll. Soon the mansion will only have him, if he kept doing the magnificent job he was doing.

“I didn’t mean to do it.” Erik whispered after what felt like hours of silence, thankfully pulling Tony out of his self-loathing. He looked up startled and a little confused on what Erik was talking about. “Cuba. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”

Tony felt a cold shiver run through him as Erik opened the subject he really hate to talk about or remember. “Lehnsherr, now is not the ti-“

“No. we need to set this through.” Erik looked up at him finally. A determined look on his face. “We never talked about that. You never gave me a chance and I didn’t ask for it. Now, in the middle of the trouble we are in, I am asking you to listen. Then decide what you want to feel about me then. If you still wanted to hate me, so be it. At least I tried.”

Tony pierced his lips as he thought about Erik’s words. He was sadly right. He never cared to know Erik’s point of view of what happened, but currently he won’t be able to do any productive thing anyway, until Dean woke up. So he should just get it over with. He nodded jerkily.

“I didn’t mean to hurt Charles. I’d never do that intentionally.” Erik started, looking away yet again from Tony’s eyes. “I just swung the stupid bullet in the wrong way in the wrong time. Out of fear and devastation, I pulled the bullet from his back and rushed him to a hospital. It was long, painful hours before they told me anything about what happened to him. When they finally talked to me they-“ he cut himself off to take a deep composing breath. Tony was watching him intently. “They told me that pulling the bullet from his back was what did it. What cost him his legs. If it was still there, they might have been able to salvage anything, but the damaged increased when the bullet was out and he won’t ever walk again. I-I panicked. Put yourself in my situation, you accidentally hurt the only person you ever loved and in attempt to salvage it, you made worse and he became a cripple for the rest of his life because of you, what would you have done then?” Tony wasn’t sure if he should answer, but he knew what he will do if that ever happened. The exact same thing Erik did. “I couldn’t handle seeing the look of hatred Charles would have certainly directed at me when he wakes up. I just couldn’t.”

He met Tony’s eyes and the genius was taken aback to see Erik’s face crumpling a little. “He is the only thing that ever mattered to me. The best thing in my life. I couldn’t see him looking at me like that. So, I ran. As far away from as I could. Thought he would be much better without me. I was poison to him. I cost him everything. So I just ran.” He turned fully to Tony then. “I swear that I didn’t know about your kidnapping, until the whole Iron Man thing. I was off grid. I didn’t know anything. When I left, I thought he’d have you to pick up the pieces. If I had known you weren’t there, I wouldn’t have left him alone to deal with both this things.”

“Why did you come back then?” Tony asked, not really accusing anymore, just curious. “What changed?”

“I thought I’d forget about him. That I’d move on. But I never did.” He had a small wistful smile on his face now. “He crashed into my life and made himself comfortable there. Without him there, it was just empty. Meaningless. I took my revenge but then I had nothing. No point in living anymore.”

He trailed his fingers over his wedding ring absent mindedly. Tony was doing the same without realizing. If he focused enough, he could feel Steve’s heartbeat through the ring. He designed those rings when he knew that Steve felt comfort from hearing Tony’s heartbeats. He didn’t know that it was mutual. He always felt comfort and grounded, when he could feel that Steve was alive and kicking wherever he was.  

“So I came back to face the consequences.” Erik continued quietly, still fiddling with his ring. “The only good scenario I had then, was Charles kicking me out in his polite way. Never really expected him to take me back. Or marry me.” He looked down at the ring sadly. “I don’t deserve it. But I don’t know what to do without it.”

“Why are you explaining yourself to me?” Tony wondered tiredly. He really missed Steve. Missed to have all his family around him. Complete. “I thought you didn’t care.”

“You are important to Charles.” Erik answered with a shrug. “Us not getting along pained him. I don’t want to pain him anymore when he comes back. So the decision is yours, like I said. I tried.”

They fell silent again. Both their eyes were resting on Dean now, who seemed to get even paler, much to Tony’s worry.

“I don’t think I will ever forget what happened.” Tony eventually said after thinking for a while. “But I can call it a truce. I don’t want to pain him anymore either.”

Erik looked up at him, startled. Tony held out his good hand towards Erik with a small tilt of his lips.

“Truce?” he asked quietly.

Erik studied him for a second before taking his hand in a shake, his tense shoulders seemed to relax a little.

“Truce.”

 

 

   

    


	22. Chapter 22

"You used Jean to open a portal through Cerebro?!"

Charles yelled at their three new companions angrily. It was weird seeing Charles angry. Steve never seen him this angry before. It was like seeing a duck with two heads or something. Weird and horrifying.

"We tried to look for any other way but it was our only option." Sam tried to explain quietly.

Their halfway reunion was quite funny actually. After Steve, Cas and Charles were done with staring blankly at their poor family members, Sam pretty much crashed Cas in a relieved hug, successfully managing to dislodge both Charles and Steve, who were hanging on to Castiel, making them tumble to the ground painfully. Bucky immediately helped Steve back up to crush him in a rather painful hug, and Thor carried Charles from the ground, while Sam kept apologizing for fifteen minutes over and over again.

Their lives was a joke.

"Sam, it could have damaged her brain! She is still too young to control her powers and she is pretty powerful. It could have gone wrong in so many ways!" Charles yelled again. It was weird how he managed to look intimidating even while Thor carried him bridal style. He shared that trait with Tony, who could manage to be intimidating even if he was only in his underwear.

 "Things did go wrong, if you haven't noticed. We're here instead of you being there." Bucky sighed in frustration before smoothing his face into a smile and held out his hand towards Charles. "Hi. Bucky Barnes. Nice to meet you. Heard a lot about you."

Charles' angry frowned immediately changed into a friendly smile. "I heard quite a lot about you as well! Glad that you have a brand new arm now!"

"Yeah, it was a gift from above." He smirked at Castiel, who rolled his eyes at them all. Steve didn't really blame him much. Their whole situation is hilarious.

“How are they back home?” Castiel asked Sam worriedly. Now that part isn’t funny. Everyone in here had a broken hearted lover back home, wondering if they were even alive or not, and not able to help them. Tony must be in reckless mode already and it was dangerous. On himself and on the others.

“They’re fine.” Sam tried but was met with three glares at his obvious lie. “Yeah, sorry, not convincing much.” He sighed in defeat. “Okay, so Tony is sporting a broken arm and a few broken ribs from the first explosion. Dean and Erik hit their heads. They say they are fine, but that’s probably not true.”

Steve felt dizzy after knowing about Tony’s injuries. Sure, the genius had worst before, but he hates the idea of Tony being hurt, and since Steve isn’t there, he will probably ignore his injuries like always. It is just a typical Tony thing to do.

“Great. Just great.” Castiel sighed tiredly.

“On the bright side, I am quite sure Charlie is courting your lovely blue sister right now.” Thor announced with a smile as he looked down at Charles in his arms, who turned to look at him blankly.

“My sister decided to have a love life while I am trapped in another world?” he muttered dryly. “Is she serious? I am not sure if I should be happy for her or fry her brain.”

“Charlie works fast.” Steve commented with a small smile even with the pain pulsing through him from his wound.

“You know what that means?” Bucky smirked a little. “It means that soon enough, Clint will be the only single guy in this team.”

They snorted as they shook their heads a little.

“Come on, we need to move from here before this commotion catch their attention and they find us.” Castiel said as he started to urge them to move.

“They? Who is they?” Sam asked in confusion as he was being pushed by Castiel to move.

“The shadow people that lives in this world.”

“The what?!”

“Just move.” Steve rolled his eyes, while Bucky started to help him walk behind Sam and Castiel. “We will explain later.”

“Uhm, Thor? Won’t it be easier for you if I was on your back?” Charles asked a little comfortably.

Thor looked down at him with a frown. “You are uncomfortable?”

“Uhm, yes. Erik is usually the one who carries me like this, so it is a little awkward for me right now.” Charles’ face flushed a little as he said that.

“Oh, I understand.” Thor just nodded easily, before sitting Charles on the ground then crouched in front of him so he could get on his back.

“Alright, now that is settled, we need to find a safe place to think about what we should do.” Castiel announced as he started to walk ahead of them.

***

Dean opened his eyes blearily only to be met by two identical glares.

Tony and Natasha were sitting by his bedside, glaring daggers at him, while Erik was leaning at the doorway watching them quietly.

“Why the glaring?” he rasped out and winced when his head hurt even more after talking. “I am in pain. Be nice to me.”

“You are lucky I didn’t punch you in the face.” Natasha stated dryly before grapping a tray from the night stand and slamming it on Dean’s lap a little too hard.

“Ow.” He huffed with a glare before sitting up a little painfully to look at the tray in confusion, to find it was filled with food.

“Please tell me neither one of you made that.” He said pointing down at the tray. “I don’t want to add food poisoning on my list of pains.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, while Natasha stared blankly.

“No, Erik made it, but it won’t stop me from adding real poison in it.” Natasha said with a straight face, that Dean wasn’t sure if she was serious or not as he stared distrustfully down at the food. “But Lehnsherr didn’t let me.”

“Wow, thanks dude.” He looked up at Erik with a smile. “You just saved me from being poisoned and your kitchen from being blown up to bits.”

Erik just nodded, but Dean could see the amusement in his eyes even if it was dulled by the sadness there. Right, Dean almost forgot the fucked up situation they were in.

“What were you thinking?” Tony glared accusingly   at him. “Why didn’t you say that you had a serious concussion and internal injuries from the hit? You should have stayed in the fucking hospital, and so not being here.”

“Like you stayed there?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. “You didn’t even want to go there.”

“This is different, you should have-“

“How is it different? You are ignoring your own injuries too. So you are being a little bit hypocritical there, dude.”

“I am not-“

“Shut up! Both of you!” Natasha growled suddenly in anger that the both of them looked at her startled. Even Erik.  “You two are the most insufferable, stubborn, selfish people I ever known! You think not saying when you are hurt is a selfless thing to do but actually it is selfish. Unfortunately, we actually care about your sorry asses and it pains us when any one of you is hurt. You are not being all heroically selfless, that is just childish as hell. I swear if this happens again I will cut off your balls and made you swallow it! Do I make myself clear?”

They both nodded shakily as they stared at her with wide eyes and shrunk back away from her. Fuck, she was terrifying when she is mad.

With that she left the room after throwing one last glare at the both of them, leaving a stunned silence behind her.

“That was scary even for me.” Erik muttered as he entered the room and sat on the chair she left. “And she wasn’t even talking to me.”

“She is just stressed. Losing Sam is getting on her nerves.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

Dean stared down at his food and clinched his fists as he remembered what happened. They tried. They failed. And now it was worse than ever. His husband and brother. Lost.

He knew he shouldn’t feel alone since he was surrounded by his family, who freaked out the moment he collapsed, but he couldn’t shake the feeling nonetheless.

“What are we going to do?” he murmured without looking up at his companions.

“I-I am not sure.” Tony looked at him helplessly. They put all their effort into the past try and they failed. What else they could do?

“Maybe if we focused on not using Cerebro since it only managed to ruin everything?” Erik suggested carefully.

They both looked at him with wide eyes, startled.

“You know what? You’re right.” Dean said excitedly, only to regret it when it made his headache worse but he ignored it to turn to Tony. “Remember the portal thing you made plans for a while ago? The one you were planning to make it to travel from one place to another in a matter of seconds?”

“The teleport door?” Tony asked in confusion. “Yeah, I remember it, but I never really had the time to start on it. Why you asking?”

“What if its job can be switched to open in another world? Maybe if we added their DNA or something like before.”

“I don’t know I-“ Tony stopped before furrowing his brows suddenly as he thought about it before lighting up and looked at Dean with a grin. “Yeah, it could work! With a few adjustment and building it, it’d be a far safer way than Cerebro! Dude, you are a fucking genius!”

“I am a little lost.” Erik blinked at them in confusion, but there was a glimmer of hope on his face as he saw Tony’s reaction.

“I will explain it, but we need to gather the others. It will need all of us to build it.”

        

 

 

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

They walked through the forest for hours.

Sam and Castiel were walking up ahead, followed by Bucky who was supporting Steve, then Thor with Charles on his back.

“So, the creatures that lives in this world are shadows?” Sam asked, looking strangely excited about that fact.

“From what we saw so far, yes.” Castiel shrugged with a small smile at Sam’s excitement. “They chased us down yesterday and managed to hurt Steve.”

“How did you get away? You can’t really hit a shadow.”

“My grace did the job, but it is weaker here. I don’t think I will be able to do it a second time.” He pierced his lips in displeasure. He hated being weak. It made him feel useless. If he couldn’t protect his family then what’s his importance? He’d be useless. Again.

“There must be a way to fight them other than your grace.” Sam frowned as he tried to think of something.

“We don’t have weapons, Sam.” Castiel sighed tiredly. “Unless you have a gun or a knife on you by any chance. The six of us are unarmed. My grace is our only way right now.”

Sam just looked at him for a few seconds. His eyes were filled with worry. Then sighed and looked away.

As they walked in silence, he could hear Bucky and Steve arguing a few feet away behind them.

“Why am I not surprised that you are the only one who managed to get hurt?” Bucky growled angrily. Castiel could literally see the death glare he must be directing at Steve right now.                             

“You just said you are not surprised, then why are you asking?” Steve’s cheeky, and a little pained, voice answered. Even Castiel was tempted to turn around and smack him in the head.

“Are you deliberately trying to get yourself killed or something? Or you just enjoy it when Tony freaks out over you? Fuck, you have the survival instincts of a squirrel on crack cocaine!”

“Of course I don’t enjoy that. I never want that, but I did what I had to do. I am not dead. So you can calm down now. And I am not a squirrel!” Steve stated a little more firmly. Castiel could hear him starting to pant a little. They had been walking for hours without rest and Steve was still healing slowly.

Castiel stopped, then turned to his friends who also stopped to look at him in question.

“We should maybe take a short rest.” He suggested as he looked at them carefully. “We have been walking for hours and we are not exactly at our full strength.”

They all nodded in relief and slumped to the ground with tired grunts. Thor placed Charles carefully on the ground, before sitting down with a pained groan.

“Why am I so tired?” he asked in confusion as he looked down at himself, probably looking for an injury he didn’t notice or something. “I never get tired this fast. What is wrong with us?”

“This world is rejecting us. The physical way our bodies works doesn’t agree with it.” Charles explained as he massaged his temples with a pained look on his face.

“Do you have a headache?” Castiel asked, frowning in concern.

“No. well, yeah, actually. Not being able to use my powers as properly as before is taking its toll on me.” He answered with another pained groan.

“We need to get out of this place.” Steve frowned in pain as he adjusted himself a little more comfortably. “It is killing us slowly.”

“How? We tried back home to get you out and look what happened.” Sam pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “We just managed to make things worse.”

“They might find another way back home.” Thor said hopefully. “Bruce is incredibly smart. He will be able to help Tony in bringing us back.”

“How adorable, you are proud of your boyfriend.” Bucky cooed at him with a cheeky smile. “You are already bragging about how smart he is. How cute.”  

“That reminds me,” Steve started as he turned to smirk at Bucky, who gulped at the look. “How was your date, Buck? I heard it went _really_ well. You have no shame. Jumping to bed right after the first date. How naughty.”

“You shut up.” Bucky glared at him with no real heat. “Not all of us like to wait too long to do the deed. How many dates did you wait to jump Tony? Six? Seven? Twenty?”

“Three.” Steve rolled his eyes at him. “And that is called being adults, who doesn’t think with their lower parts.”

“No, that is called being a blushing virgin who needed to wait to know if their man was serious enough about them.” He smirked cheekily and earning a punch in his chest from the fuming soldier. “Oh, come on! I am right. Hey Cas, how long did it take you to jump Dean’s bones?”

“Five years.” Castiel answered dryly making everyone stare at him dumbly, while Sam just chuckled uncontrollably. “Dean had a serious state of denial. He is better now.”

“Of course, he is better now. Releasing a five year bent up sexual tension would do that to you.” Bucky laughed, while Steve rolled his eyes at him.

“Ew, could we not talk about my brother’s sex life.” Sam grimaced at the thought, making the others laugh.

“Right, sorry. What about you, Charles?” Bucky turned to the telepath then. “Did you and Lehnsherr date first or jumped right into the sack? You are a proper professor with a British accent, you must have went to twenty dates first or so before doing the deed.”

“Actually we went on dates after ‘doing the deed’ seventy times or so.” Charles smiled innocently like he didn’t shock the hell out of them. “The first time probably after two months of meeting him or so.”

“Wow. That actually managed to shock me.” Bucky blinked at the telepath dumbly.

“I don’t understand the concept of ‘dating’.” Thor frowned in confusion. “We have no such thing in Asgard. If we liked someone, we say so. If it was mutual, we consummate our mutual love without need for waiting.”

“Well, no need to ask about you and Bruce then.” The dark haired soldier stated in amusement before turning to Sam. “And you?”

“We were hiding from aliens that wanted us dead, then. So, no dates there.” Sam answered with a small smile.

“If I recall correctly, it only took the two of you a few weeks.” Castiel smirked at him making Sam flush a little. “Good thing you didn’t turn out to be emotionally constipated like your brother. You should be proud.”

They all laughed at that and Sam was the first to sober up and looked over at Steve with a serious expression.

“About that. I need to ask you something.” Sam started with a determined look on his face.

“Yeah, of course.” Steve straightened up as he gave Sam all his attention. The others just watched in interest.

“Well, you and Clint are closest to her years before we met. I already asked Clint and he pretty much gave me a long list of do’s and do not’s to survive, as his way of giving me his blessing. I was going to ask you earlier but you jumped into a portal, so I didn’t get the chance to ask and-“

“Sam.” Steve cut off the younger Winchester’s nervous rambling with an amused smile. “Are you asking me for Natasha’s hand?”

They all turned wide eyes towards Sam, except Thor, who looked completely lost.

“Well, uh. Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Sam flushed nervously. It was quite funny to watch a big man like Sam blush like that.

“Holy shit!” Bucky exclaimed with a huge smile.

“I-I don’t quite understand what’s happening. Why Sam is asking the Captain for Natasha’s hand? He already can hold it whenever he wants, right?” Thor asked in confusion as he trailed his eyes between them.

“He is asking Steve permission, since he is close to Natasha, to ask her to marry him, Thor.” Charles explained with a soft smile.

“Oh! That’s glorious news!” Thor exclaimed with a huge smile. “We will have another Midgardian wedding! I loved Tony and the Captain’s wedding before. Yours will be just as glorious I am sure!”

“I didn’t actually ask her yet.” Sam murmured, flushing at all the attention. “She could say no.”

“Are you being serious?” Castiel raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. “Your deep love for each other is obvious. Why would you ever think she will say no?”

Sam just shrugged and looked down self-consciously. 

Steve shifted so he could reach out and place a hand on his shoulder to make him look up at him.

“I am positive she will say yes, Sam.” He smiled at him gently and squeezed his shoulder. “I have no doubt about that. I never saw her this happy before. So, go for it. Waiting for too long isn’t wise in our cases as you could see.” His smile widened then. “And of course you have my blessing.”     

 “Thanks, Steve.” Sam smiled back at him.

“When are you going to do it?” Castiel asked curiously.

“The moment we’re back. No idea what will happen next, if I waited any longer.” He rolled his eyes with a long suffering sigh.

“Wow. This is just great.” Bucky was grinning widely. “I mean it’s-“

Castiel suddenly straightened up sharply, effectively cutting off Bucky as all of them looked at him, tensed.

“Cas, what is it?” Steve asked in concern.

“We’re not alone.” He murmured as he slowly got up to his feet. They followed him slowly. Thor stepped in front of Charles to hide him from view. “They are surrounding us. A much larger number than last time.”

The cloud of smoke emerged from the trees then, and formed a circle around them slowly before changing into twelve shadows that stood there watching them.

They tensed as they looked around nervously. The one directly in front of Castiel seemed to be much larger than the others. He must be their leader or something.

“Shut your eyes when I tell you to.” He whispered to his partners before pushing Sam behind him, so he could step forward. His hand already starting to glow, if a little slowly than usual.

A few tense minutes passed as no one moved, the shadows just studied them with glowing red eyes. Thor slowly crouched down to get Charles on his back in case they needed to run for it.

“Why are they just standing there?” Bucky hissed nervously as he looked around.

“They are waiting for something, I think.” Charles whispered carefully.

Castiel felt his grace growing little by little and he raised his hand towards the large shadow.

When he was about to tell them to shut their eyes, the large shadow suddenly moved and darted towards him at lightening speed.

“Cas, watch out!” Sam and Steve screamed but the shadow caught him off guard when it slid behind him fast.

Before he could turn around to face it, he felt a raging pain in the back of his neck, like there was something burning its way through it and he screamed.

He heard the others screaming his name, but all he could feel was the burning pain that travelled from the back of his neck towards his entire body.

Then he collapsed.

***

Sam and the others stared in panic as the shadow placed something at the back of Castiel’s neck and the angel started to scream in pain.

The most terrifying thing was the fact that the shadow was disappearing into Castiel from the back of his neck.

“He is getting inside him!” Charles exclaimed in panic. “How is that even possible?!”

Steve ignored his injury as he darted forwards with the others to get to Cas, but before they could reach him, the shadow disappeared completely into him and the angel collapsed on the ground.

“Cas! Cas, are you alright?” Sam yelled as he grabbed the angel and shook him.

“Come on, man. Wake up!” Bucky slapped him lightly in an attempt to wake him.

“Cas?” Steve called, his heart beating loudly in his chest from fear. What if the shadow did something to Cas? What if he was-

Before he could finish the thought, the angel’s eyes snapped open suddenly, making them all flinch away.

Because instead of the angel’s bright blue eyes, his eyes were bloody red like the shadow’s.

       

 


	24. Chapter 24

They all gathered in the study, so Tony could explain their new plan.

Dean almost murdered them all when they tried to make him stay in bed. His glares alone was enough to make Tony feel like he was burning alive. He must have gotten that effective glare from Castiel or something.

So Erik and Wilson helped him down the stairs towards the study, while he complained the entire way about the fact that he could walk alone and that he wasn’t a fucking invalid. Erik had to eventually step on his foot hard enough to make him shut up and glare at him instead.

Tony enjoyed every second of it.

So they all sat in front of the couch they made Dean lay on despite his very loud protests. Tony on a chair because he was still injured too, the others sat crossed legged on the floor looking up at him expectantly, while Erik sat on the arm of the couch.

“JARVIS, show them.” Tony said to his watch, which then created a hologram between them that showed a complicated looking circular machine. “This is a project I was planning to work on. It was supposed to be a teleport door, but with some adjustment and their DNA being added, its work can be changed to open a portal to the world they are in, but it needs to be much larger than this.”

“You want to build a portal.” Natasha stated with a raised eyebrow. “How do you know it will open in the same world even if we added their DNA? What if it opened in an alternate universe or something that has other Steves or Castiels? Anything is possible in our lives really.”

“You believe in the Multiverse?” Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow, looking surprised.

“With how our lives working? Yeah, I believe in anything by now. I won’t even be surprised if a fire breathing dragon crashed land into this room any second now and burned us all alive.”

“Do you think there’s a universe where Steve is a woman or something?” Clint asked looking genuinely curious about that. “He is pretty hot as a guy. He would make an extremely gorgeous woman.”

“What, you are so sick of being single you decided to search for a female version of _my_ husband across the multiverse?” Tony raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Clint with a displeased scowl. Yes, he was a possessive and jealous husband. Have you seen Steve? Sue him.  

“Oh, no. I am pretty sure if she exists with a male or even a female Stark, they probably banged from the first meeting or something.” Clint grimaced as he thought about it. “Maybe a female Cas! She will have the vibe of being pretty and innocent but can kill you in two seconds. Definitely my type. ”

“Unless Castiel raise you from perdition, you will never be his type in any gender or in any universe.” Dean smirked looking completely unbothered by Clint’s words. Why should he be bothered? Castiel would choose him in any possible universe. That was an undeniable fact.

“Seriously? Okay, fine. What about a female Char-“

“Say it and I will fling every single metallic thing in this room at you, until they will no longer identify your corps anymore.” Erik threatened calmly with a perfect straight face.

“Uhm.” Clint gulped nervously. “Okay, moving on. What abou-“

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, can we get our guys back _then_ look for a date?” Wilson groaned while Natasha and Bruce scowled at Clint.

“I need to work fast or I will die alone!”

“Maybe you could look for someone in our universe first before searching through the multiverse for a partner.” Dean rolled his eyes at him in annoyance.

“Preferably not our absolutely off limits husbands in any universe.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him warningly.

“Fine.” Clint scowled at him in displeasure.

“Anyway, back to your question.” Tony turned to Natasha after he decided to ignore Clint’s existence completely. “Not that I actually believe in the Multiverse, but just to be on the safe side, we will connect this portal to Cerebro, but we will not actually need to operate Cerebro to activate this portal. Hopefully anyway.”

“It is a pretty smart idea to change the teleport door to a portal opener instead. Nice, Tony. You did it again.” Bruce commented with a smile.

“Actually, it was Dean’s idea.” Tony gestured towards the hunter with a crooked smile.

“Wow, Dean. You managed to come up with a plan while concussioned. That’s pretty awesome.” Bruce praised looking impressed.

“I am a hunter. If I didn’t get a concussion every few weeks then I must be doing something wrong.” Dean rolled his eyes with a smile. “Besides, it is a team effort. I just had the idea. Tin Can did the rest.”

“It _is_ a team effort thing. Since I can’t work with one arm and Dean can’t work on his own in this state, we will need all of you to build the portal creator with us.” Tony trailed his eyes over them before pausing when he noticed something missing. “Wait a second, where’s Charlie and Raven?”

“Probably making out in Raven’s room or something.” Natasha just shrugged casually.

“Wait, what?” Erik blinked at her dumbly, looking taken aback by that announcement, while Tony and Dean looked blankly at Natasha.

“Oh, yeah. Charlie asked Raven out and she said yes.” Clint confirmed with a grin.

“Charlie scored a hot date in a matter of two days. Why am I not surprised?” Dean just shook his head tiredly.

“Okay, didn’t expect that one.” Tony blinked a few times before shaking himself out of it. “Anyway, call them here. We need to start working immediately, they had been there for way too long.” He turned to Dean curiously then. “Do you feel anything coming from Cas?”

“No, nothing.” Dean furrowed his brows as he concentrated, a look of confusion on his face. “And I mean literally nothing. I feel his presence but that’s it. It’s like he stopped feeling anything. No matter how much I focus, I get nothing.” He looked up at them, worry itching itself on his face. “Cas isn’t feeling anything. At all.”

***

They walked slowly, while surrounded by the shadows that was apparently send there to bring them in.

Every few seconds, they turn around to look with pained hearts at Castiel, who still had glowing red eyes and was sporting an emotionless face as he walked like a fucking controlled robot.

“What the hell did that fucking shadow do to him?” Bucky hissed angrily as he kept staring at Castiel.

“It possessed him. That what happened.” Sam muttered in answer. Rage was written all over his face along with worry for his brother in-law.

“But Castiel is an angel. How could a mere shadow take possession of his vessel?” Thor asked in confusion but was glaring daggers at the surrounding shadows at the same time.

“I don’t know how the hell they managed to do that. They are not demons obviously, maybe they are stronger or older than them, but doesn’t explain how it managed to take control of Cas. Sure, he isn’t as strong as before but he isn’t that weak!” Sam was two seconds away from ripping his hair out from frustration. Nothing was making any sense.

“They planned this.” Steve growled, his whole body tense from suppressed rage, which was causing his wound to scream in pain but he ignored it as Bucky supported him as they walked. His heart was bounding hard in his chest. What if Cas was gone? What if that fucking shadow burned him out or something? God, he promised Dean he will look out for him. He failed his friends. Cas never failed to save him and he couldn’t return the favor. “They wanted to capture us and knew they won’t be able to do that if Cas is conscious. He will wipe them out again. So they sent that huge shadow to incapacitate him.”

“What does they want from us?” Charles whispered nervously. “I can’t hear anything from them. Probably because they don’t actually have a physical brain or something, but what could they possibly want from us?”

“We are intruders in their world. Maybe they think we are trying to invade them?” Thor wondered carefully. “They are probably taking us to their headquarters or something of the sorts.”

“I swear if they harmed Cas in any way I will rip them apart.” Sam growled angrily as he clinched his fists in rage. “Nothing will rip Cas away from Dean. Nothing.”

“We are all behind you, buddy.” Bucky muttered as he looked back again at the emotionless Castiel. “I really wish for my gun right now. I’d have wiped them all out.”

Steve also looked at Castiel and it pained him. Sure, Castiel didn’t usually show much emotion on his face, he saves almost all his emotions for Dean but he wasn’t cold, not by a long shot. Usually his eyes that showed all the needed emotions for any situation. So, no, Cas wasn’t cold, he might appear like that but he wasn’t.

However, now? Without his eyes, he was terrifying. Like a walking cold, ice sculpture. It brought chills all over his body when he looks at him in this state. He was never afraid of Castiel. Not ever. He knew the angel would never harm anyone of them. When he is in control, of course.

He just wants his friend back. He wants him to go back to his husband in one piece. And he was ready to follow Sam’s lead and rip apart those fuckers.

Suddenly, the shadows stopped and made them stop as well. They looked up to see that they were in front of a castle that was carved completely in a huge mountain.

“Even shadows lives in castles now?” Bucky snorted as he looked up at the dark castle.

“This must be their headquarters or something.” Sam whispered as he looked around carefully.

The castle’s door opened slowly, revealing even more shadows, led by another huge shadow like the one that took Cas. They tensed as they watched it approaching closer to them.

It observed them for a long time, while they stood there on guard, ready to fight at any second.

“What does it want?” Thor growled as he started to get fidgety from being studied like that.

“He is studying us or something.” Charles answered quietly as he trailed his eyes all over the shadow.

Then the large shadow gestured towards the possessed Castiel, who walked tersely forward and grabbed Charles harshly from Thor’s back.

“What are you doing?!” Thor exclaimed as he moved to take Charles back.

“Cas, what-“ Charles gasped but the words stuck in his throat when Castiel just touched Thor’s forehead and the Asgardian dropped motionless on the ground.

“Thor?!” Steve and Bucky exclaimed in panic and rushed to check on him, while Sam stared with wide eyes at Castiel.

“Cas, snap out of it!” Steve exclaimed as he looked up at him desperately. “Come on! Before you do something you will regret!”

The angel just ignored him as he carried a stunned Charles towards the large shadow.

“Cas! Don’t do this!” Sam yelled frantically.

The shadows around them moved suddenly and hit each one of them on the back of their head hard enough that they dropped to the ground as well with pained grunts.

The last thing Steve saw before losing conscious was Castiel entering the castle with Charles in his arms and the large shadow by his side.

                    

 


	25. Chapter 25

Bucky and Thor slammed their shoulders against the huge metal door again with pained grunts, but the door still didn’t move an inch.

“Come on, we will try again.” Bucky took a few steps back with Thor before slamming against the door again. Same result as the past ten times.

“Just stop, guys.” Sam sighed in defeat as he hugged his knees closer to his chest as he sat on the floor of the cold cell the shadows threw them in hours ago. “It’s no use. The door won’t budge. We are weak here, so we won’t put a dent in that door.”

“So, what? We will just sit and wait and leave Cas and Charles with those things, until they either finish with them then deal with us or just leave us here until we die?” Bucky rounded on him, looking raged and desperate. “We can’t leave them there on their own.”

“We won’t, but you are wasting what little of your strength left on a wasted effort.” Sam just raised an eyebrow at him. “We need to sit and think calmly about what the hell we can do. That’s the only thing we have now.”

Thor and Bucky shared a look, before sighing in defeat and dropped to the floor tiredly.

“What do you think they are doing to them?” Thor murmured with a defeated look on his face. It was sad to see the usually loud and cheerful man, so subdued like that, but they were all helpless and pained right now.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know why they made Cas take Charles. What could they possibly want from him?”

“Nothing good, for sure.” Bucky muttered bitterly. “He is on his own there, helpless to defend himself with Cas out of commission. How are we even going to get Cas back? Can you even perform an exorcism on an Angel?”

“He isn’t possessed by a demon. So no exorcism would even works.” Sam sighed with a bitter look on his face. “That shadow seemed to shut Cas down completely with no way to reach him. I-I don’t know how are we going to get him back.”

Steve was listening to their exchange silently without saying anything, as he sat on the floor and slumped back against the wall.

The truth was, he was in a terrible mess. The moment he woke up in this cell, the pain in his middle increased ten times. Like there was something in that cell that stopped his healing immediately and now he was dealing with the terrible pain of having a hole in his middle. For some reason, he could feel the pain travelling up towards his chest. He had no explanation for that. Unless those fucking shadows made this cell so if there was a wounded captive inside it, it’d make their wound even worse until it kills them.

He certainly felt like he was dying really, and he couldn’t even voice it to his partners. Not just because he didn’t want to freak them out over him, but also because of the fact that the pain was blocking his vocal cords that he couldn’t even form an understandable sentence. His mind was also getting fuzzy from the pain.

Yup, he was dying.

That thought terrified him. Not because he was afraid of death. He never was and never will. But because by now, death won’t only take him. It will take Tony eventually with him too. It goes both ways. The two of them could no longer live without the other. It’s like losing half of your soul. You can’t exactly live with just half a soul. If death ever tried to take one of them, it will take the other close behind. He didn’t want Tony to die because of him.

He didn’t want to die period. Not like this. Not in a dirty cell, worlds away from his husband. He wants his future with Tony. He didn’t want them to end like that. They didn’t get enough time together. They didn’t deserve to lose it all just like that.

Fuck, he was getting delirious from the pain already. He wasn’t going to die from a fucking stab wound. He had much worse injuries even before the serum. He won’t go down this easily.

“-Right, Steve?” he heard Bucky’s voice addressing him. Of course he didn’t notice that the others were even still talking in the first place. He opened his eyes with too much effort to meet Bucky’s, who was now frowning at him in concern. Great. Just great. “Steve? You alright there?”

He wanted to lie, but honestly he was too tired to lie.

“No, am not.” He let out drowsily, his head already swimming from the effort, before he felt himself slid boneless on his side with a thud when he lost his ability to stay upright completely. 

He heard the others panicked voices as they rushed to him, he opened his eyes a little to see their frantic faces swim over him hazily, he blinked a few times to clear up his vision.

“Steve? Can you hear me? Come on, punk, don’t do this. ” Bucky called out frantically, Steve wanted to answer but he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to reassure him.

“Lift his shirt. We need to see what’s happening to his wound.” Sam rushed in, as Bucky and Thor lift Steve’s shirt, while Sam unwrapped Castiel’s shirt that was still wrapped tightly around his middle.

When he unwrapped the shirt, they all froze as they stared down at Steve’s middle with wide panicked eyes. Steve made himself look down with great effort to see what they were panicked about.

He stared dumbly down at himself. The wound itself was angry red, it wasn’t bleeding, but there was black veins travelling from it and up his torso, making the skin around it dark purple, like his torso was just a huge bruise with black veins.

He could see why that sight would panic his friends.

“What-what is happening to him?” Bucky breathed out in fear as he trailed his eyes towards Steve’s face.

“The cell. It must contain a poison or maybe some kind of gas that does this to the wounded captives.” Thor said, voice shaking a little as his eyes trailed over Steve’s torso.

“We need to get him out of here.” Sam muttered shakily as he raised his wide eyes towards the other two. “He need to get out of here or this will kill him.”

***

In a matter of hours, they already made a great progress on the portal opener.

Of course, having Erik shaping and wielding the metal parts together with his powers really helped in saving so much time that could have be wasted in shaping all these parts manually.

As the body of the machine was on the work fast enough by Erik, Dean, Clint and Wilson. Charlie, Tony and Bruce worked on the programming part of it. Raven and Natasha were busy with dealing with the frantic students that were wondering about their professor’s whereabouts.

No matter how much time Tony and Natasha took in trying to convince Dean to sit this one out, it was to no avail. The stubborn Winchester insisted in helping in any way, saying that he will not sit on his ass while the others did all the work.

Tony could tell that Dean was edgy and worried, since the moment he tried to reach Castiel and found nothing. They were all worried about that, but Dean was taking it particularly hard, which was very understandable. He didn’t know what he will do, if suddenly the steady beating of his wedding ring stopped. His own heart would stop in return, he knew that. Just the thought made a cold shiver travel along his spine.

He took a deep calming breath. Steve would be fine. He wasn’t going to die this easily. He won’t just leave Tony like this.

Not now. Not ever. They still had their future together. They can’t lose that future.

He shook himself so he can focus on the task at hand. They couldn’t afford another mistake this time. This was their last chance.

If this didn’t work. Nothing will.

“Did you add their DNA?” Tony asked Bruce as he worked on connecting the portal with Cerebro’s system.

“Yes, a hair from each one of them were analyzed and added to the data. Along with their genetic code, finger prints and retinal scans, just in case.” Bruce reported without looking up from his work.

“Good. That’s good.” He nodded with a sigh as he turned to check on Charlie’s work, which was perfect as usual.

After an hour or so passed, with them all working like a beehive with no rest, he looked up to see that they made a huge progress already as he instructed the others as they worked on the body.

“Fuck.” He heard Dean’s yelled curse, when his shaking hands made him drop the part he was screwing in. with another curse he took a few steps away and raked his fingers through his hair in agitation.

Tony exchanged a look with the others, who looked between him and Dean in concern, before approaching the hunter quietly.

"Are you alright there, Buster Brown?" he asked in a calming voice to not make the man even more agitated.

"I don't know." Dean exclaimed as he paced in frustration. "Cas. Nothing. Hands trembling. Trouble. Useless. I don't know."

Tony blinked at him for a second, trying to form an understandable sentence from Dean's rant, but failed. "Do you want me to lend you some verbs or something?" Dean just stopped to give him an unimpressed look. "What? Is it only okay when _you_ do it?"

"I pick my moments." Dean scowled at him, but hey! At least he got his normal speech back, so points for Tony! “Not really in the mood right now.”

“You still feel nothing from Cas?” Tony asked more seriously.

“Nothing. I get nothing for hours now. That couldn’t be normal. It can’t be normal.” He raked his hands through his hair then down his face. “It is driving me insane.”

“Did you try seeing though his eyes again?”

“I tried. I only saw black everywhere.”

“Maybe he is sleeping.”

“No, that’s not it. He is in trouble, I know he is.” He sat heavily on a chair and held his head in his hands, his whole body tense as hell.

Tony couldn’t help but feel worried. He could feel they are in trouble too. For a while now Steve’s heartbeat was a little faster than usual, he could feel the beats all along his left arm from how fast they were.

What could possibly be happening there that was putting six of the strongest people in Tony’s life in danger?

The thought alone made him shiver.

“Try reaching into his mind or something.” Tony gripped Dean’s arm to make him look at him. “He could be unconscious. Maybe if you tried to reach out to him, he will answer.”

“I don’t really know how to do that, I never actually tried to use our bond for anything.”

“You said the same thing before you managed to see through his eyes.” He tightened his grip on Dean’s arm and met his eyes dead on. “Just try.”

Dean looked at him carefully for a few tense seconds before nodding.

   


	26. Chapter 26

Charles hated to admit that he was scared.

He had been through so much in his life, but this was the first he felt this helpless in saving himself.

His powers did absolutely nothing on the shadows, his only present friend was controlled by one of the shadows and couldn’t help him, because that same friend was also immune to his powers.

So his current situation wasn’t exactly promising in any way.

Castiel had dropped him a little harshly on a cold stone table hours ago and the shadows chained him to it, while Castiel stepped back towards a corner in the huge room they were in, to stand like a lifeless statue.

Nothing happened since then, the shadows just trailed around him, studying him, as he laid on the stone table. Its coldness was seeping through his bones, making it hard to breathe.

He didn’t know what those things wanted from him. What could they possibly want from him? It was useless to try and possess him anyway, they won’t be able to go anywhere with his crippled body, and his telepathy was even weaker in this damned castle.

So, basically he was just a useless, helpless, crippled man. Nothing more.

His eyes landed on Castiel and felt his heart twisting in pain. They had buried Castiel in his own body. That shadow must have done something terrible to be able to subdue the stubborn angel like that.

Castiel was a fighter. And a stubborn one that is. There was no way he could have fallen without a major hit.

He tried again to reach out with his mind to see through the angel’s, but no use. The walls were still held up high, even more now that the shadow was there.

If only he could preach that wall, he will be able then to search for the angel, wherever he was trapped and pull him out.

But the walls didn’t seem to be going down any time soon.

He was also wondering with a thundering heart about his friends’ whereabouts. The shadows took them away hours ago and he didn’t see them since then.

They couldn’t have just killed them off. If they wanted them dead they could have just done it outside of the castle and not bother to knock them out, and pull them inside.

He needs to find them, but he couldn’t do that while being strapped on a table to be studied like a lab rat.

He also couldn’t do it without Castiel.

As he contemplated how to get out of here, the big shadow from earlier appeared suddenly in front of him and studied him with its glowing red eyes.

He tensed as he stared back at the shadow, which reached out its hand to rest it on Charles chest.

Charles inhaled sharply as he felt the cold press on his chest and tried to squirm away from the touch, then his eyes widened when he saw the hand disappear through his chest effortlessly.

Panic starting to take over him, when he felt pain raking through his body from his chest, but bit back the pained scream that threated to rip out from his throat. He felt the hand moving inside him and it was getting very hard to breathe.

After a few torturing minutes, the hand started to withdrew and he sagged his tense body in relief as the pain subsided.

Then he froze in panic when he saw the shadow reaching towards his head next.

***

Castiel wasn’t sure what happened.

He only remembered darkness. Complete darkness that he fought viciously with, before he was thrust into this room.

The burning room from his nightmare.

He didn’t remember anything before that. He didn’t even know when he went to sleep. Didn’t even know how he got here, but he had been stuck in this room for hours, he knew that much.

Hours of being forced to watch his family burn again. However, this time, it felt even more real. He could smell the stink of burning flesh. The smoke of the fire suffocating him.

And the strangest thing of all, the fire actually hurts him.

Not enough to kill him, but whenever he got close enough, he could feel its heat burning him.

It wasn’t just a dream anymore. This was real.

His family was actually burning in front of him as he watched helplessly, and he couldn’t even remember how it came to this.

He stumbled away when the fire got too close to him, only for his feet to hit something. He looked down and felt a cold shiver ran through his entire body despite the unbearable heat surrounding him. He found himself looking down at Dean’s lifeless eyes staring up at him.

His knees hit the floor as he collapsed next to Dean’s burning body, his eyes unable to look away from him.

He failed. He failed Dean. He failed his family. He couldn’t save them and they lost everything because of it. Steve and Tony lost their future together. Sam never got the chance to ask Natasha to marry him. Bruce and Thor didn’t get enough time to be happy. Bucky lost his only chance to start having an actual life. Clint never found someone to love.

And he lost Dean. The man who he threw his entire life for, and would do it again and again. The one who taught him what love is. Who made him feel loved and needed.

Dean, who was the only reason Castiel lived for. The reason why every time he died, he fought his way back. To come back to him. To not cause him any more pain.

And now, that amazing man was being burned away into ashes that will fly in the wind. Like there wasn’t ever a trace of him ever existed. Like he was never real.

He sat there, staring down at his everything, as the flames took him away, ignoring the burns he was getting from how the fire surrounded him. He didn’t care. Let it burn him away. No reason to resist anymore.

He’d never lay eyes on Dean’s smile again, not even in heaven where he must be, so what’s the point in keep going.

_“Cas!”_

He flinched when he heard his name being called in a very familiar voice, but that was impossible since the owner of the voice was dead in front of him right now.

“Cas, you in here? Come on, babe, where are you?”

Alright, he couldn’t be imagining this.

He scrambled to his feet and looked around frantically, until his eyes landed on a familiar figure that was trying to dodge away from the flames.

The figure turned when he caught Castiel’s movement, and the angel froze in disbelieve as his eyes traveled from the figure to the body still burning on the floor and back again.

How was that possible?

“Cas!” the figure called out in relief and raced towards him.

He took a deep breath to calm his violently beating heart and uttered the figure’s name.

“ _Dean_.”  

***

When Dean reached out to Castiel’s mind as far as he dared to go, he found himself in a completely dark room that was only filled with hundreds and hundreds of mirrors.

He looked around in confusion, not knowing where he was at first as he walked forward between the mirrors carefully.

The weirdest thing was that, each mirror he passed, didn’t show his reflection.

It showed him alright, but not a reflection. It was of memories of him along the years. Each mirror showed a different memory. One showed a recent one, another showed an older one.

But they were all of him, and they were all from Castiel’s point of view.

Dean laughing, smiling, eating, crying, yelling, sleeping, during sex. Pretty much anything Dean ever did.

A few mirrors started to show some memories of Steve, Sam, Tony and everybody else, but the mirrors that showed Dean was ten times more.  

He stopped as it hit him where he was.

He was in Castiel’s mind. Specifically, the parts that showed his thoughts and most precious memories.

His heart grew a hundred times in size as he felt warm all over. Castiel mainly thinks about him. His best memories were of Dean. Even when Dean was at his worst, he still was his priority. The most constant thing in Castiel’s mind.

He felt a smile spreading on his face despite their situation. He couldn’t even wipe it out of his face even if he tried. That stupid dork. He was unbelievable. Unreal. Such dorkiness shouldn’t even exist.

And he was all Dean’s.

He will get him back. Even if it kills him.

As he walked between the mirrors, he froze suddenly when he felt a certain part of the floor was shaking a little. He took a few steps back so he could crouch down carefully on the ground.

Dean placed his hand on the floor only to hiss and pull it back fast. The floor was too hot. Like there was something burning underneath it.

He stared at the floor as he felt something pulling him towards whatever was under there. The bond was telling him to go there.

He looked around for anything to help him in breaking the floor but there was only the mirrors, and he didn’t know what will happen if he broke one of them.

Well, if he could feel the heat through the floor, then maybe it was thin enough to be broken by punching it repeatedly.

That was a long shot, but he didn’t really have a choice here.

He landed the first punch on the floor and felt a slight shaking in the ground. He landed another and another until he saw the floor cracking.

With one last punch, the floor collapsed completely underneath him, and he found himself falling face first towards the room under it, and landed on a very hot floor on his front with a pained grunt.

He slowly got back to his feet, while looking around with wide eyes.

He immediately knew where he was.

He was in Castiel’s nightmare. The one that’s been haunting him for the past months. The one that made him wish to die repeatedly and frantically in his sleep, until Dean snapped him out of it.

Hearing Castiel describing it was nothing compared to actually seeing it.  

He was in the burning room. Scattered around him, were the bodies of their family. Dead. Flames eating them away slowly.

His eyes landed first on Steve and Tony’s tangled bodies and he immediately looked away with a pained gasp at the too painful scene.

It was horrible. It wasn’t just a nightmare. He could smell the burning flesh. The flames were actually hurting him if he didn’t pay attention to where he was going. He felt sweat falling down his face as he trailed his eyes frantically around, looking for his angel, while trying to avoid looking at any of the burning bodies.

He was here. Dean knew he was here. He could feel it.   

 “Cas?” he called out through the room and looked around waiting for any reaction.  “Cas, you in here? Come on, babe, where are you?”

He felt movement at the back of the room. He looked up and felt his heart stutter when his eyes landed on Castiel staring back at him with wide disbelieving eyes.

“Cas!” he exclaimed happily and ran towards his husband.

“Dean.” he heard him calling back and rushing to meet Dean in the middle.

Then they both froze when the flames raged suddenly, blocking their paths towards each other.

Dean hissed in pain as he reared back and away from the flames, then looked down at his forearm to find a brand new burn.

This wasn’t a nightmare.

The fire was very real.

And he couldn’t reach Castiel because of it.

 

 

       

 

 

   


	27. Chapter 27

“The portal opener managed to locate the right world from the data it got from Cerebro.”

Charlie announced excitedly at first, but then she frowned.

“What is it?” Bruce asked in concern as the others turned towards her. They finished building the body in a very short time thanks to their hard work. They didn’t get any rest since starting on it to finish it on a record time.

“Well, the world they are in is physically very different from ours. From what I got, it rejects anything alive with a physical form.” Charlie explained, her brows furrowed in worry.

Tony looked up from where he was still sitting with a spaced out Dean, Keeping an eye on him in case he collapsed while reaching out to Castiel or something.

“That world is rejecting their presence.” Tony frowned, lips twisting in a worried grimace.

“What will that do to them?” Erik asked in concern, looking up from where he was attaching the final piece in the body. His whole body tensed at the news.

“It means that they are weaker there since the world doesn’t agree with their bodies, but it won’t kill them since the polarities of our world and that world are the same. If it was reversed, they would have died in a matter of two or three days.” Tony explained as he adjusted Dean’s head a little when it fell in an uncomfortable way. They had moved him into a cot earlier, when he spaced out completely and slipped from the chair to the floor. He had been in this state for a while now, Tony wasn’t sure how long it’s been.

Today was Dean and Castiel’s three year anniversary, and they were spending it worlds apart instead of celebrating it with Steve and Tony like they planned for months.

Well, at least Dean got to see Cas on their anniversary. Even if it was only in their heads. He wasn’t sure he will be as lucky on his and Steve’s anniversary tomorrow.

Their lives suck. 

“Yeah, but that means another problem.” Bruce announced a little grimly as the others turned towards him. “This is the reason why the portals only lasted a few minutes maximum. The portals’ physical form doesn’t agree with that world.”

“What’d that mean?” Natasha asked with a pinched look on her face.

“It means that even with the portal opener, it will only last for a few minutes before collapsing.”

His announcement shook them all as they stared at him for a few seconds, then trailed their eyes towards each other, not knowing what to do.

“How long do you expect it to hold?” Erik questioned grimly.

“Five minutes. Maximum.”

“Will that be enough?”

“It has to.” Tony cut in and turned his eyes back to Dean. His heart clinching in pain at the thought of all their hard work going to waste. This was their last chance. If it fails, they are never getting them back. He will never get Steve back. “For their sake and ours. It has to be enough.”

***

Dean tried to find a way from around the flames, but the fire was blocking any possible way he could go to reach Cas.

He was getting frustrated and anxious as all their tries to go to each other failed. He finally found Cas and now he can’t even reach him. The universe really fucking hate them.

“Dean, get out of here.” Castiel called out to him frantically. Dean could see the panic in his eyes even with the distance between them. “This flames will hurt you. Just get out. You can leave if you focused enough. Just go.”

“I am not leaving you in here, Cas. Don’t even think about it.” Dean yelled back at him incredulously, if he thinks he was just going to leave him here after all of this, then he was an idiot.

“You can’t get me out of here. You just can’t. Go home, Dean. please.” He heard the desperation in Castiel’s voice. That only increased Dean’s determination to reach him.

He made a decision.

He took a few steps back and prepared to jump. The wide eyed look on Castiel’s face said that the angel understood what Dean was about to do.

“Dean! Don’t!” Castiel shouted but Dean already started to sprint forward and jumped as high as he could over the fire.     

He felt the flames grazing him and he hid his pain, when he heard Castiel’s panicked voice calling his name, before falling right into the angel’s expecting arms.

They stumbled together for a few seconds as they tried to get their bearings back. Dean let out a mental hysterical laugh. He jumped through a raging fire for Cas. He’d do it again. And again.

When they managed to get their balance back, their eyes met and locked to each other, momentarily forgetting about the burning room around them, filled with their family’s dead bodies.

“Dean.” Castiel breathed out reverently as he cupped Dean’s face gently, like he was terrified if he pressed hard enough, Dean will disappear into thin air. “You’re here. Really here. How are you here?”

“I might be abusing our bond for my own selfish reasons.” Dean smiled at him as he placed his hands over Castiel’s.

“That’s a very dangerous thing to do, Dean. We don’t know what could have happened to you. What might be happening to you right now!”

“I had to see you, Baby.” Dean murmured as he pressed his forehead against the angel’s. “I had to. I couldn’t feel you anymore. Not as strong as before. I freaked out.”

“I am sorry. I am so sorry.” Cas breathed out as he tightened his grip on him. Dean wasn’t even sure what he was apologizing for anymore.

They both ignored the flames around them. They ignored everything for a while, just basking in each other’s presence.     

“What happened, Cas? What brought you here?” Dean finally answered as he pulled away a little to look into Castiel’s eyes. “This isn’t just a nightmare. You are not sleeping. If you are, you’d have woken up by now. The fire actually hurts too. What happened to you, Sweetheart?”

“I-I don’t know.” Castiel looked completely lost as he stared at Dean desperately. “I don’t remember what happened. One minute I was with them. With Steve, Charles, Sam and the others. Then a raging pain followed by darkness, and I am here. Been here for hours now. I-I don’t know how to get out of here. It won’t stop. It just won’t stop. Everybody is dead, Dean.”

“Shh, Sweetheart, it’s okay.” Dean tried to calm him down, while moving the both of them to the side when the flames got too close again, he looked down when he felt himself hitting something, then looked away immediately with a sharp intake of breath when he realized it was Natasha’s dead body.

 “Take a deep breath, Cas.” He murmured as he held Castiel’s face gently in his hands to make him look at him. “This isn’t real. Nothing here is real except the two of us. You and Me. You just have to focus. Try to remember what happened. You have to remember, Cas. Please.” He leaned even closer towards him. “You are an angel, Baby. Even if you are not the most powerful one, but you have the strongest will. Nothing can affect your memory. Nothing can take over you. Whatever happened, you can overcome it. Just focus.” 

Castiel took a shuddering breath as he closed his eyes tightly to try and remember what happened, while Dean tried to keep the both of them away from the flames. Almost the whole room now was on fire, soon enough there will be no place for them to go. The burn on his forearm throbbed, he wasn’t even sure how could he get hurt if he wasn’t actually physically here. Not to mention the raging headache he was feeling. Doing this with a head injury wasn’t probably a good idea.

But he’d do it again and again for Cas. The angel needed him, so he damn will be here for him.

“I-I remember a shadow.” Castiel uttered as he opened his eyes to look at Dean. “A huge shadow. It ambushed me. I felt pain in the back of my neck, then I am here. It’s-“ his eyes widened as he remembered. “It’s possessing me.”

“What’s possessing you? A demon?”

“No, it’s a shadow. That world’s residences are just shadows.”

“How can a shadow possess you, Cas?” Dean frowned at him in confusion. “That’s not even possible.”

“I don’t know.” Castiel bit his bottom lip bitterly. “It took over me. I am weak, Dean. That shadow locked me in my own mind. I am useless. I failed to bring them back. I am not strong eno-.” 

“Cas, stop, just stop.” Dean cut him off firmly as he tightened his grip on Castiel’s head. “You are not useless. You didn’t fail. You are the strongest one in all of us. That thing just caught you off guard. That’s all. This is your mind, Cas. Your rules. You only need to foc-“

He froze when he noticed a presence behind Castiel’s back. The angel turned, when he noticed Dean’s look and froze too.

There was a giant shadow standing a few feet away from them, just watching them with its glowing red eyes.

Dean took a step back, while Castiel stepped in front of him protectively as he stared tensely at the shadow.

“What do you want from us?” Castiel demanded in a strong voice as he hid Dean completely from the shadow’s view. “Why do you keep attacking us? Why did you take over me?”

The shadow tilted its head as it just stared at them silently.

“I don’t think it is much of a talker.” Dean muttered as he watched the shadow carefully.

_“Your world.”_

A deep, guttural voice answered, coming from around the room at large. Making them both flinch. It was like the shadow’s voice was everywhere around them.

“What?” Castiel asked with wide eyes.

_“We want your world. We searched for centuries. For a physical world. With flesh and blood. We found yours.”_

  “How? And why?” Dean demanded, trying to step from behind Castiel, but the angel just pushed him back behind him. He’d have rolled his eyes at any other time.

_“The one with the strong mind. Brain waves reached us. We reached back. Brought you to our world. Going back to your world with us in you.”_

His words send shivers through both of their bodies as they took a step back. So what happened with Cerebro wasn’t Tony’s fault. The shadows did this. They wanted Charles all this time, to make him their bridge or something to come to their world, and they got five bodies as a gift with him, much to their pleasure apparently.

“Why do you want to come to our world?” Castiel asked while giving Dean a look from over his shoulder and gestured with his head for him to leave. Dean just looked at him with a raised eyebrow and stubbornly remained where he was. No way was he leaving Castiel alone in this.

_“To have your vessels. To have a physical form. To feel. To live. To do that. You must end. All of you.”_

The shadow lunged forward suddenly, catching Castiel and Dean off guard by grapping Cas and threw the angel right into the fire.

“Cas!” Dean screamed in utter panic, and before he could rush towards his angel, the shadow grabbed him by his neck tightly and raised him from the floor.

_“You should not be here. You die here. Your body become a host. When we take your world.”_

The shadow’s other hand changed into a knife. Dean tried to remove the hand that was around his neck, but it only tightened in response.

Just when the shadow was about to plunge the knife into Dean’s chest, it was shoved off of him violently by Castiel, who gripped the shadow by its neck in a tight grip, while his eyes glowed with bright white light, a look of pure rage on his face.

_“H-How? I control you.”_

“My mind. My rules.” Castiel snarled as his hands tightened on the shadow, while he brought him close towards his face. “And I will burn each one of you alive before you lay a hand on my family. Starting with you for daring to touch him.”

With that, Castiel’s hand started to glow and fire spread through the shadow’s body, which screamed while it burned alive in front of them.

Castiel threw him towards the flames surrounding them, which swallowed the shadow before the flames disappeared suddenly from around them.

Dean panted as he looked up at Castiel as he looked around the, now empty, room with a satisfied look.

“Okay, as usual, that was so hot. Literally.” Dean grinned at him as he walked towards the angel, who took him in his arms with a smile. “I knew you could do it.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you.” Castiel murmured as he rested his forehead against Dean’s.

“The team back home are almost done with the portal.” Dean said as he pulled back to look at Castiel’s eyes. “You need to get back out there. The guys need you there. The whole team need you to help them come back safe.  I need you to come back, Cas. In one piece.” Then smiled as he trailed his hand down the side of Castiel’s face gently. “It’s our anniversary today. I will look pathetic, if I celebrated on my own.”

Castiel chuckled a little, then watched him for a few seconds, before nodding with a determined look.

“Go back home, Dean.” Castiel murmured as he placed a small kiss to Dean’s lips, before pulling away as the room started to shake and fade away around them. “I will see you soon.”

“Promise?” Dean smiled as he felt himself being pulled back to his own mind, probably Castiel’s doing.

Castiel smiled softly, and just before Dean faded away completely, he heard Castiel’s gentle voice answering him.

“I promise.”

    

 

 

 


	28. Chapter 28

Castiel’s eyes snapped open with a gasp as he took control over his body again.

He noticed immediately that he was no longer in the blue forest, instead he was inside a large room with stone walls, lit by a few torches.

Also, the room was filled with shadows that were surrounding a stone table in the middle of it.

“Keep your bloody hands away from me you fucking bastard!” a heavily accented shout sounded in the room angrily.

Chained on that table, was none other than a thrashing Charles, who was fighting to keep the large shadow away from him as it tried to reach a certain spot at the back of the telepath’s neck. 

Well, at least he was right on time.

“Charles, shut your eyes.” He exclaimed before raising his hand, palm up towards the shadows that immediately turned towards him in shock.

He caught a glimpse of Charles shutting his eyes right before his grace ignited and he let go.

He heard the hissing sound of the shadows being burned away seconds later, without any of them managing to reach Castiel.

When he felt it was safe enough, he stopped and lowered his hand to look around. The room was completely cleared of the shadows as they burned away into nothing because of his grace.

Ignoring how exhausted he felt from the amount of grace he just used, he rushed towards Charles, who was still keeping his eyes firmly shut.

“Charles, you can open your eyes now.” He reassured as he took hold of the cuffs around Charles’ wrests and broke it.

“Cas? How did you- is that really you?” Charles stammered as he looked up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“No, the shadow that was inside me decided to try and burn its own people by my grace for fun and then release you to rape you.” Castiel rolled his eyes as he released Charles then carried him off the table.

“I had to make sure.” Charles narrowed his eyes at him but he was smiling in relief. “You have no idea how happy I am that you are back.”

“You and me both.” Castiel murmured then straightened up to look around the room. He could feel the approach of other shadows coming their way. “Did you see where did they took the others?”

“No, but I can try to find them.” Charles placed his fingers against his temple and focused as hard as he could to find their friends, while Castiel stayed alert in case any shadow reached them before they could get out of here. “They are in a cell in the lowest level. There’s a stairs down the corridor outside of this room.”

“Perfect.” Castiel answered as he sprinted out of the room and into the corridor with Charles in his arms, trying to run as fast as he could to release his friends before the shadows found them.

“How did you get free?” Charles asked curiously as he held on to Castiel tightly. “You were buried far in your own mind, how did you do it?”

“Dean helped me out.” Castiel replied, while getting down the stairs as fast he could without falling face first with Charles in his arms. That will be unpleasant for the both of them.

“Sorry, what?” Charles blinked at him in confusion. Seemed like Charles felt safe enough with Castiel there that he didn’t care about what’s happening around him anymore. “How could Dean help while he is in another world?”

“Our bond. He focused on our bond hard enough until he managed to reach out to my mind.” When he saw Charles was about to ask about the bond he added. “I will tell you about it, when we are safely back home without an army of shadows that wants to steal our bodies to take our world racing behind us.”

“They want to do what?!”

Castiel looked down at him with a bitchface that effectively shut him up the rest of the way down the stairs.

They reached a long, dark corridor filled with hundreds of doors that appeared to be cells. Castiel froze as he tried to figure out which door will lead him to their friends.

“I think they are in the fifth door from the right.” Charles told him as he tried to focus.

Castiel walked towards the door. The closer they got, the louder they hear shouting coming from it and banging noises.

That’s definitely the right door.

He sat Charles down against the wall next the door, then placed his hand against it.

“Step away from the door.” He called out to his friends inside.

The shouting and banging stopped and Castiel was met with silence for a few seconds.

“Who’s out there?” he heard Bucky’s loud voice asking from inside.

“Castiel.” He answered as he started up his grace to break down the door.

“Castiel who?” Thor’s voice this time.

“How many Castiels do you know?” the angel snarked in frustration.

Silence again and he heard Thor muttering: “Is Castiel a common name in Midgard?”

“Just step away from the door.” Castiel sighed and shared a look with Charles, who rolled his eyes in response.

He heard them shuffling away hurriedly and he started up his grace.

A few seconds later, the door shattered into pieces that splintered everywhere, making everyone duck away to hide their faces.  

Bucky and Thor straightened up to stare at him dumbfounded. He could see Steve laying on the floor with Sam kneeling next to him but couldn’t see them well with the other two standing in front of him.

“Castiel, is that really you?” Thor breathed out as he stared at him with wide eyes.

“Yes, it’s me. Now, we need to move before-“

“Prove it.” Bucky cut him off firmly.

“What?”

“Prove that you’re Cas.”

“Seriously? We don’t have time for-“

“Then you need to be fast about it. Say something about each one of us. Come on.”

“Fine.” Castiel groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I caught you once watching The Fault in our stars and you were crying about it, then you made me swear to never tell anyone or they will never let you live it down. Thor likes to sleep naked and sometimes gets up at three am for a snack without bothering to wear anything. You have no idea how many times I caught him in the kitchen, naked as the day he was born, eating leftovers. Sam cries every time he watched Lion King at Mufasa’s death and Natasha gave him a lion plushie for his birthday that he hides from Dean. Steve still forgets that he is no longer short and scrawny, so he keeps hitting his head against shelves and tree branches, because he doesn’t bother to duck, forgetting he is six feet tall now. Also, he hates toasters like they personally offended him or something. Convinced enough or should I keep going?”

They blinked at him dumbly for a few seconds, while Charles giggled hysterically outside the cell.

“Yeah, that’s Cas alright.” He heard Steve’s breathy pained voice saying, then Sam’s head appeared from behind Bucky and Thor, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Cas.” He breathed out, body sagging in relief as he rushed forward to crush him into a hug. “Glad to have you back.”

Castiel hugged him back for a few seconds, before pulling away with a pat on his shoulder.

“We need to get out of here. Now. They will be here any moment.” Castiel announced as he pulled Sam outside the cell and gestured for the others to move.

“Steve. He is-he is worse than ever.” Bucky said looking freaked out for his friend but looked hopefully at Castiel. “Please, I think he is dying.”

Castiel blinked at him in shock before rushing inside. “Get Charles and wait outside.” He said before crouching down next to the scarily pale soldier on the floor with strange looking black veins trailing from under his shirt, up his neck to the side of his face.

“Hey, Cas.” Steve slurred with a smile as he looked up dazedly at Castiel. “Happy to see your blue eyes are back.”

Castiel’s heart banged in his chest as he raised Steve’s shirt up a little to take a look at his wound, only to feel a shudder run through his body at the sight of his purple torso with the black veins.

“Can you breathe?” he asked as calmly as he could to not worry the soldier.

“Barley.” He answered with a dazed smile. He must be getting delirious. “I am dying, aren’t I?”

“Fuck. Fuck.” Castiel cursed loudly and turned to Bucky. “Help me in carrying him. We need to get him back home, I can’t heal him here.”

Bucky sprinted towards him, and together they managed to pull Steve up with his arms around both their shoulders.

“What’s happening to him?” Sam exclaimed looking freaked out.

“His wound reacted badly with something and it is shutting down his body.” Castiel answered as he got out of the cell with Steve and Bucky. Charles was safely in Thor’s arms. “My grace won’t be enough to heal him here with how weak I am. We need to go home so I could heal him properly.”

“How are we going home?” Bucky ‘s voice sounded panicked as the six of them jogged down the corridor.

“The team back home will open a portal. They are almost done, but we need to get away from this place so the shadows won’t follow us into the portal.”

“How do you know this?”

“Later. I will tell you later. We need to get out now.”

***

Dean was thrust back into his mind so fast, he gasped as he sat upright violently and almost crashed land towards the floor, if it wasn’t for Tony, who rushed forward to stop his fall.

“Hey, hey! It’s alright, you’re alright.” Tony reassured him as he placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him as Dean panted heavily, then the genius frowned suddenly and jerked back with a panicked look. “Dammit, Dean! You will not stop until you blow your fucking brain up, are you?”

Then he got up fast to reach towards the tissues, while Dean followed him with his eyes in confusion, that’s when his eyes landed on a nearby mirror and saw why Tony panicked.

Blood was falling from his nose, eyes and corners of his mouth. That didn’t seem right to be honest.

That’s probably just from using the bond to get to Cas’s head. It was too much on his head injury. But he didn’t regret it. Cas needed it. He would have done it even if it killed him.

Tony was back and pushed the tissues into his hands a little hastily. 

“Wipe your nose. I will deal with your eyes so you won’t poke it out or something by our current luck.” Tony muttered as he grabbed a tissue and started wiping the blood from under Dean’s eyes.

Dean blinked at him and almost laughed at the irony. Just a few days ago, Dean was the one cursing at Tony and looking out of him. Then suddenly, the roles were reversed and now Dean was one being cursed at and looked out for.

The universe is cruel like that.

As he wiped the blood from his face, he looked Tony over when he noticed something missing.

“Dude, where’s your sling?” Dean questioned with a raised eyebrow, his voice was dry and it was painful to talk, his throat felt like sandpaper. He must have been out for a long while.

Tony frowned at him and threw the bloody tissue in a trash can to reach out to a glass of water on a nearby table and handed it to Dean, who took it gratefully and drank it in one go.

“I hate slings. Always did.” Tony answered with a shrug as he took the glass from Dean and refilled it from a large water bottle and gave it to Dean again. “It won’t let me move freely.”

“Your arm is broken, you’re not supposed to move freely.” Dean frowned at him as he drank the second glass of water gratefully. “Put it back. Come on.”

Tony pierced his lips at him for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and reached towards the sling he discarded on the table and placed it back on his broken arm and around his shoulder. “Happy?”

“Very.” Dean smirked at him, before pinching the bridge of his nose with a groan. The fucking headache that’s refusing to leave him the hell alone.

“Where have you been all this time? What happened out there?” the genius questioned looking both concerned and curious.

“I reached Cas’ mind.” Dean answered as he laid back to rest on the bed. They must had moved him to a room at some point. “First I was in a dark room filled with mirrors that showed Cas’ thoughts and most precious memories.”

“Let me guess, your face was the most popular thing there.” Tony smirked at him knowingly.

“Actually yeah. Yeah it was.” Dean chuckled a little as he remembered. “There was, however, some mirrors that showed you, Steve, Sam and the team too, you know?”

“Really?” the genius seemed genuinely surprised at that.

“Yeah. That actually made me happy. To know that Cas’ universe didn’t just revolves around me and Sam only now. That he had other people in his life that he cared about.”

“And yet you are still his priority.” Tony smiled a real smile at that.

“I am hundred percent sure Steve’s mind is pretty much the same thing.” Dean grinned teasingly at him.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Tony’s smile just widened at that and got softer. The fact that Tony didn’t laugh it off or divert it in any way by a sarcastic comment showed how tired and wiped out Tony was. “What else happened?”

“I found Cas trapped in the nightmare that haunted him for months.” Dean’s face sobered at that as he remembered what he saw. “The creatures that lives in that world. They are just shadows. One of them took over Cas and trapped him in his own head. Cas managed to gain back control, but those shadows wants to come here. Come to our world and take us as hosts.”

Tony blinked at him for a few seconds, trying to absorb what Dean just said carefully. He probably had hundred questions he wanted to ask about what Dean said and was trying to choose the most important want of them.

“How did they find out about our world in the first place?” Tony finally asked.

“From Cerebro. Apparently, Charles’ telepathy reached them or something when he used Cerebro and used that to open the portal somehow.”

“Wait, you mean-“

“-It wasn’t your fault. Everything happened from the start, none of it was your fault. Never was, never will be.”

Tony took a sharp intake of breath and looked down, obviously to hide how Dean’s words affected him.

“There’s something you need to know.” Tony announced as he looked back up at Dean. The hunter nodded at him to continue. “That world reject anything physical. That’s why only the shadows could live in it apparently. Also that’s why the portals never stayed open for long. The one we will open won’t be much better. It will only stay opened for five minutes maximum.”

Dean stayed silent for a minute, trying to take in what Tony said.

“The portal opener is ready?” Dean eventually asked carefully.

“Yeah. They are putting the last finishing touches on it now as we speak. It will be ready to operate in ten minutes or so.”

“Why aren’t you with them then?”

“Mind your own business.” Tony just muttered dryly without meeting Dean’s eyes, but the hunter understood anyway and couldn’t help but smile.

“Ohh, you do care.” Dean grinned at him and got a rolling eyes for his trouble but there was no denial, again apparently Tony was too tired to deny, then sobered up again. “In ten minutes, we open the portal. Five minutes will be enough. Cas will make sure of that.” 

                   

 


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! I was planning to finish it with one big chapter but it got way way longer than I planned and still didn't finish it. So, I split it into two!   
> Hope you enjoy!

“Do you know where the exit is?”

Castiel asked Charles, as he ran up ahead, while he and Bucky supported Steve, who was trying desperately to not collapse. Thor was right behind them with Charles in his arms and Sam running next to him.

“It’s up ahead, we just need to go up the stairs and take the first right.” Charles answered immediately, his heart was bounding hard in his chest. For a moment back there he was sure he was a goner. If Cas hadn’t snapped out of his possession at the right moment, the shadows would have taken over him.

He couldn’t help but think about Erik as the others ran down the corridor as fast they could. If he focused enough, he could feel Erik at the back of his mind, but couldn’t reach out to him, since his powers was getting weaker the longer they are here. For years now, he and Erik’s minds linked to each other. They are a constant presence to each other physically and mentally for years. He knew he was Erik’s priority. Erik’s entire existence revolves around Charles’.

The past few days were hard on Charles. He used to get frustrated at Erik’s overprotective hovering sometimes. The way he thinks Charles will collapse into little pieces if he left him alone for more than an hour. He got used to it eventually. Understood why Erik did this, and couldn’t help but feel giddy at Erik’s constant attention.

Right now, he craved that attention. Misses it like a lost limb. He needed his husband. Needed him like he needed air. Of course, his friends right now were doing their very best to look out for him and bring him back safe. Especially, Castiel who literally got himself in this situation for him, but he needs Erik. His absence was leaving him hollow and unsteady.

He was hoping his husband was doing better than him back home and not suffering this much.

He was pulled out of his thoughts, when they froze suddenly and almost stumbled into each other. He looked up to see what was going on, only to see five shadows staring down at them from the top of the stairs they were climbing on currently.

“Dammit.” Castiel cursed under his breath, before gesturing to Sam, who immediately stepped forward to support Steve, when the angel took a step towards the shadows.

The five shadows sprinted towards them and Castiel raised his hand, they all shut their eyes without the angel having to say it again.

It took a few minutes before the burning white light faded away, and Charles opened his eyes again just as a panting Castiel rushed to support Steve again and they were back on track on climbing the stairs.

Castiel was getting weaker. Charles could see it. Every time he used his grace, it took a lot of him, but he didn’t complain even for just a second.

If they went home safely, Charles was almost sure Erik will hug the hell out of Castiel for all of this.

***

Erik watched the team adding the last touches on the Portal Opener with a violently beating heart.

This was it. Their last chance. If this didn’t work then- he couldn’t even think about what will happen if it didn’t. Just thinking about the possibility was too much. He didn’t know what he will do then. He dedicated his entire life for Charles. Without him? He was nothing. He will just fall into the hole he fell into years ago. Hole of bitterness and constant anger.

He didn’t want to be angry and bitter again. He didn’t want to lose his life with Charles again.

“You’re quieter than usual.” Tony murmured from beside him as he worked on a last minute adjustment in the Portal opener’s data. “Well, you are normally grimly quiet but occasionally you’d throw a bitter and judgmental comments then and there.”

“Just worried, that’s all.” Erik muttered quietly as he watched Tony work with one hand. He and Dean returned a few minutes ago, the hunter looking pale with red eyes and stumbling a little, probably what he did to reach Castiel affected him harder than he thought. Natasha forced him to sit on a nearby chair and even made him a sandwich with a mug of coffee, which she handed them to him, then placed a kiss on the top of his head, while Dean watched her with wide eyes. That shocked even Erik honestly. He never saw Natasha like this, but obviously the red headed woman loved Dean like a brother, just like she loved the rest of the team. He saw her doing this with Steve and Tony several times before.

“Hey, remember that week that Charles made you sleep on the couch because you made an entire building fall on top of Logan two days after meeting him?” Tony said suddenly and Erik blinked for a few seconds at the subject change, but indulged him anyway.

“Logan flirted with him. In front of me. He is lucky I didn’t throw him in the ocean with a crowbar up his ass or something.” Erik muttered with a scowl as he remembered. It was when Charles and he were searching for recruits to go up against Shaw. The bulky mutant told them to fuck themselves, but took one look at Charles and agreed with a leer on his face as he looked him up and down. Erik hated it but didn’t think much of it at the time. Then two days later, Logan made a move on Charles and the next thing he knew, he was making an entire abandoned building, fall on the top of Logan’s head and Charles forbidding him from touching him or even sleep with him on the same bed, because he didn’t control his temper. Erik slept on a couch instead in his own room so Charles would take pity on him. It worked.

“He didn’t know you were together then, dude.” Tony rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “But it was funny as hell to watch as your face changed into different shades of pure rage, when Logan dared to touch Charles. I laughed, while Charles was both flattered and enraged.”

Erik couldn’t help but crack a small smile at that. He knew he was overprotective of Charles. Charles was very capable of looking out for himself, he wasn’t weak or helpless. Erik knew that, but he could never shake the feeling that someone or something will manage to hurt him. That suddenly Charles will be taken away from him brutally.

At that time, jealousy was what moved him. Logan was larger, more handsome and had a good heart behind his gruff appearance. Of course, Charles won’t ever have left him for the other man, but he couldn’t help feeling self-conscious anyway.

“Besides, Logan got over it pretty fast. He even went to your wedding. I think I saw him tearing up at some point. Admittedly, everyone teared up, you were pretty sappy that day. Like all the way sappy. It was both sweet and disgusting honestly.”        

“What brought this on?” Erik asked looking at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, that incident proved to me that Charles wasn’t just a fling to you.” Tony shrugged like what he was saying wasn’t a big deal. He wasn’t looking at Erik but at his work instead. “I obviously knew about Charles’ feelings. It was a shock really, since Charles was never that serious about anyone, he was a hardcore playboy. That incident made me realize that it was mutual, that’s why I never forget it.” Tony was fidgeting uncomfortably now. “Then in your wedding. You fucking carried him pretty much the whole time, so he won’t have to look up at you from his chair and feel sad about it.” he then met Erik’s eyes, he could see that the man was uncomfortable for talking about this but carried on anyway. “What I am trying to say is, even though I never showed it because I hated you and all, you are good for him. You make him happy. You put him first in everything. Before yourself even. What I am saying is, in the past years, you proved that you deserve him. And-and I am glad about that.”    

 Erik stared at him in shock for a few seconds. That-that was surprising really. He didn’t know how much he wanted to hear those words from Tony. The weight of his guilt of what he did was pressuring him down for years, Tony’s hatred for him made it worse, because the man was family to Charles. If he hated him, then Erik didn’t deserve Charles no matter what he did.

Hearing him saying this now was- it was good. He could feel the weight lift up a little from his shoulders. Tony might still didn’t forgive him, but at least he accepted his presence. At least he didn’t seem to hate him anymore.

He looked away to hide the amount of emotions that must be showing on his face then. “Thank you.” he murmured loud enough for the genius to hear. “Just-Thank you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Tony looked back at his work, while clearing his throat awkwardly. “Let’s focus now on bringing back those dorks.”

***

When they reached the large front entrance of the castle, they encountered a team of twelve shadows. Well, at least Steve thinks they were twelve. He wasn’t sure anymore. Honestly, he was doing a herculean effort to not collapse and make it worse for everyone, he should get a medal. Preferably, a Tony shaped one.

This was getting ridiculous. Every time, something happens and he was the one close to death. Like he was a magnet to near death experiences or something. He should just bottle up Cas’ grace since it was used on him more than anyone else to save him.

This wasn’t fair. Wasn’t fair to Tony and his family. Wasn’t fair to Castiel, who keeps healing him over and over again because he was too reckless.

After Castiel vaporized the twelve shadows, Steve could see the way he was panting harshly and how pale he was. He was using too much grace to save them. He couldn’t save them and carry him at the same time. It wasn’t fair.

“Cas, just leave me.” He grounded out painfully. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Talking was even worse. “Just leave me. Take them and go.”

“Shut up.” Castiel just growled as Sam and Thor pushed open the huge door, revealing the blue forest outside.

“Cas, I am dying. Just save them and go. Just-“

“I said shut up!” Castiel yelled suddenly and turned to glare at him so hard he flinched. He looked away only to meet Bucky’s very impressive glare. “We are not leaving you here. We are all going home and you will be fine. Now, just suck it up and try to stay alive a little longer.”

Steve sighed as they started to run out of the now opened doors.

He looked behind him at the castle to see an army of the shadows running behind them.

“Uhh, Cas? They are-“ Sam started as he too looked behind them with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I know.” Castiel cut him off with a pinched look on his face.

“You can’t smite all that, can you?”

“Not at the moment. No. I am wiped out.”

“What are we going to do?” Bucky asked as they ran even faster through the forest.

“We hope they open the portal any moment now.”

***

“We are ready to go.” Tony announced, turning to everyone in the room. His heart hammering in his chest hard. This was it. This was their last attempt. If it didn’t work, lots of hearts will be broken. Including his.

“What are you waiting for? Do it.” Dean urged him as he stood up from his chair to come closer. Worry was itching itself into his features. “They should be ready now.”

Tony trailed his eyes towards the others, who nodded at him encouragingly. He shared a look between Dean and Erik then started the Portal Opener.

For a few, scary seconds nothing happened. Everything was still as they all held their breaths mostly in panic. When Tony’s heart was two seconds away from breaking down, the portal came to life suddenly making them all jump.

They all stumbled back a little as a shock wave hit them when the portal opened, then they stared with thundering hearts at it silently.

“How long did you say will it stay like that?” Dean asked carefully, turning towards Bruce.

“Five minutes. Maybe less.” Bruce answered as he watched smoke starting to emit from a few parts of the machine.

“It will be enough.” Dean breathed out, turning back to look at the portal. “It will be enough.”

***

Castiel felt the shift in the air when the portal was about to open.

“This way!” he exclaimed as he directed them in the way he felt the shift coming from.

At the end of a path of trees they saw the portal. It was larger than the past times.

“Why this portal keeps flickering every few seconds?” Thor asked, while panting hard. They had been running for a while and they were all tired.

Castiel’s heart almost stopped. That portal won’t stay open for long. It wasn’t agreeing with this world just like them.

“We need to hurry, it could disappear any minute.” Sam urged as they sped up as much as they could with how exhausted they were.

But then they all stopped and almost stumbled into each other when the shadows emerged from all sides until they surrounded them from all sides, blocking their path towards the portal.

They stood frozen, staring back at the shadows silently for a few seconds.

“Are they going to try and get into the portal?” Bucky whispered, without moving his eyes away from the shadows.

“They can’t get into the portal. Not in their current form.” Castiel whispered back carefully. He couldn’t help but notice that a few of the shadows’ eyes were eyeing Steve specifically. He carefully placed a hand on the back of Steve’s neck so none of the shadows could reach it. Steve glanced at him dazedly with question in his eyes. “They need our bodies, so they could get into our worlds.”

“So, they want to wear us to prom. Fuck them, nothing is getting inside me.” Bucky muttered as he took a step back.

“Nothing except your boyfriend, of course.” Thor commented with a smirk from behind him.

“Seriously? Now? Fuck you.” Bucky growled at him, while looking at him from over his shoulder.

“You owe the Jar two dollars, Buck.” Steve slurred, his head falling to the side weakly and closed his eyes.

“Steve?” Cas shook him a little in concern. “You still with us?”

“Yeah. Not for long though.” The soldier answered in a hushed voice looking at Castiel with half opened eyes, his words mangling together and he seemed to lose his ability to keep his head up. The black veins now covered his neck with both sides of his deathly pale face, his eyes were bloodshot that there was almost no whit in his eyes anymore.

Fuck. Fucking fuck.

Charles gasped suddenly and grabbed the sides of his face tightly, a look of pain on his face.

“Charles?” they called in panic as they looked at the pained Charles, who let out a pained groan before his face blanking suddenly, devoid of any kind of emotion as he stared straight ahead.

“Charles?” Cas said carefully as he looked at him in concern, the others were looking at him a little panicked.

 _“We can save him.”_ A deep guttural voice came out of Charles’ throat that didn’t sound at him at all. It was the same voice of the shadow that possessed Castiel earlier. _“Surrender. Give him to us. He will live with us inside.”_

***

“Why aren’t they here yet?”

Tony almost yelled, when minutes passed and nothing happened. No one of their family appeared and it had been open for almost four minutes now. The machine’s body was shaking violently from the effort, while black smoke filled the room. “They have one minute! One minute and the Portal opener will explode!”

“Just stay calm. They will be here any minute now.” Dean tried to stay calm. He really did, but it was hard. He had no idea what he will do if they didn’t show up.

“That’s the problem, Dean. They don’t have any minute. They have _a_ minute.” Bruce said frantically, looking like he was trying desperately to control himself so he won’t Hulk out.

“What if we go there and tried to help them?” Erik asked while staring at the portal with clinched fists, like he was trying so hard to keep himself back from rushing forward and jump.

“There will be no time, and you jumping in it might close the portal behind you.” Tony answered bitterly, his hands were shaking and seemed to be clinching at his chest with a pained look. All this stress wasn’t good for his hurt ribs.

“Then what we do?” Wilson asked worriedly.

“We wait.” Dean muttered bitterly. Heart panging hard in his chest. “We have no choice but to wait.”

***

“Not going to happen.” Castiel answered firmly as he looked back at the shadows. “You are not taking any one of us. You are not getting into our world. You will never take us without a fight. And you will get out of Charles’ mind right now.”

The shadows stared back at Castiel. They could almost see them shaking in rage.

Charles gasped again, when he came back to himself and looked around frantically.

“What happened? Did they get me?” Charles asked in confusion.

“No, they did not. You are back now so it’s alright.” Thor reassured him, as he looked nervously at the raged shadows around them.

Castiel took a step back with Bucky and Steve, who was probably no longer aware of what’s happening around him.

“Sam, take Steve with Bucky.” Castiel whispered carefully, Sam obliged and took Steve’s arm that was around Cas’ shoulders and wrapped it around his instead. The angel took a step forward. “When I tell you to run for the portal. You run.”

“But what about-“ Bucky started but Castiel turned and gave him a firm look.

“Just do as I say if you want to go home.” Castiel growled with a stern glare on his face that managed to shut them all up. It probably won’t have worked on Steve if he was aware, so thanks God for that.

Then suddenly, the shadows started to charge at them all at once.

“Now!” Castiel shouted, while he unfurled his wings and used one to push away the shadows in front of them. “Run for the portal now! I will cover you.”

They started to run as fast as they could while looking back at Castiel in panic.

“Don’t stay behind!” Charles shouted at him as he twisted in Thor’s arms to look at the angel, who was fighting off the shadows by throwing them around with his wings.

“We will not jump without you!” Sam also yelled as they ran.

“I am right behind you. Just go.” Castiel growled as he grabbed one shadow by the neck and threw it at another group, while backing away to catch up with his friends. He wasn’t planning to stay behind. He will not do that to Dean, but someone needs to keep the shadows away.

The others reached the portal, that was flickering violently now, and looked back at Castiel.

“Cas, come on!” Bucky shouted. “The portal is about to close. Get your ass here!”

Castiel turned and started to run towards them, but the shadows kept surrounding him and he had to shove them away with his wings again.

“Castiel, hurry up!” Thor exclaimed frantically, desperately wanting to help, but Charles was still in his arms and he couldn’t just leave him.

Castiel growled, then turned and flipped his wings hard until he was flying right towards his friends, who froze in panic as he came charging towards them.

He pushed them all forward with his arms and wings. Ignoring their startled yelps, as he shoved them into the portal, all six of them at once disappeared into it.

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, honestly, this chapter is way too long for me to try and reread it to check for mistakes and I promised to update the last chapter today :D
> 
> so, if you saw any mistake just point it out for me :D
> 
> I really, really hope you guys will enjoy this chapter.

The moment the six bodies pushed through the portal, the Portal opener exploded violently.

The explosion was so hard and sudden, that no one had a chance to react as their bodies were thrown around the room hard, as the shock wave ran through them.

Tony found himself flying, and had a moment of panic, if he hit a wall or even fell hard on the floor his injuries will be much worse, but he found himself being held in the air for a few seconds by his watch, then the next second he was falling straight on top of Dean, who hit the floor hard when he caught him.

Tony looked up towards Erik, who lowered his hand when Tony was safe, and slumped against the wall he hit because of the explosion.

Erik and Dean were treating him like he was made of glass, which he couldn’t really complain about right now, since that saved him from having even more broken bones.

But his friends were still jerks.

Everything was silent for a few seconds, everyone trying to recover from the explosion and take in what just happened.

The portal exploded, because six bodies jumped through it at once.

_Six bodies._

Tony was immediately scrambling to his feet at that, and saw Erik pretty much jumping to his feet at the other side of the room.

Even before the others recovered, the both of them were running towards the bodies that were slumped in front of the remains of the portal opener. What if the explosion hurt them? They were in the middle of it!

They both stopped when they saw the bodies covered by huge black wings, that were burning at a few places because of the explosion.

Even before Tony could react, Natasha and Raven were suddenly there with a fire extinguisher and sprayed it over the wings hastily.

Castiel groaned in pain as he hid his wings away and looked up at them gratefully, while flipping on his back and closing his eyes.

With that, everyone rushed towards the six bodies.

“Charles!” Erik exclaimed as he immediately bent down and gathered the confused telepath in his arms and held him close to his chest as tears of both relief and joy trailed down his face which he buried in Charles shoulder, when Charles realized what was happening he wrapped himself around the Metal bender with a huge smile with his own tears of joy. Raven ran over and wrapped her arms around the both of them while laughing in relief.

Tony smiled at them happily before rushing to Steve, who was still slumped on the floor on his front.

“Steve! Steve, honey, come on, let me see you. Don’t play hard to get.” Tony grinned happily as he shook his husband’s shoulder excited at finally having him back, but got no response. His smile faltered a little as he looked at him in confusion. “Steve? Come on, don’t do that.”

He flipped the soldier on his back with too much effort since he was only using one arm and Steve wasn’t helping.

The moment he saw Steve’s face though, he let out a panicked yell that interrupted the other’s reunion harshly.

Black veins on both sides of Steve’s face that trailed up from his neck and was probably on his torso as well, deathly pale with half opened bloodshot eyes that was trying to focus on Tony’s face but failing as he panted hard like he wasn’t getting any air in his lungs.

Steve was-Steve was dying.

“No! No, no, no. you can’t do that. You can’t do that to me! Not now. Not ever! Don’t do that!” Tony shouted in fear as he held Steve’s head in his hands trying to make him look at him. “Steve, Steve, come on, stay with me. Don’t do that. Please, don’t do that.

“Tony.” Steve let out in a strangled voice between his panting, a few tears fell from Steve’s eyes as he finally saw Tony’s horrified face.

Tony was aware of the others rushing towards them. Aware of them calling Steve’s name in fear and horror, but he could only focus on his husband’s face. Could only focus on the fact that he was dying.

This couldn’t be happening. He just got him back! He couldn’t just lose him like that. Steve couldn’t die like that!

The panicked yelling must have reached Castiel, who blacked out right after he hid his wings away from exhaustion, and he shoot up to sit upright to look around frantically, when his eyes landed on Steve and Tony his face paled.

Tony shot forward to grab Castiel’s arm and looked at him desperately.

“Please, save him! Please, he can’t die like that! Don’t let him die, please.” Tony wasn’t even aware that he pretty much screaming nor he was aware of the tears falling heavily from his eyes. He only cared about Steve. He was the only thing that mattered at that moment. Nothing else mattered. Because if Steve didn’t make it, there was no longer a future for Tony. No longer anything.

“My grace. It isn’t enough.” Castiel said looking pained and desperate. “I am wiped out. I don’t have enough to heal him right now.”

“Can you recharge it or anything?” Bucky asked frantically as he shook in panic.

“Please, there must be a way.”  Natasha said desperately.

“I can recharge if I touched a soul but-“

“Do it. Take mine. Do whatever you want to it. Just do it, please.” Tony urged him frantically as he pulled at his arms.

“Tony, it will be very painful to you and-“

“I don’t care even if it killed me! Just do it, Cas! Please, just do it!”

Castiel nodded and placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder to brace him.

“Get him something to bite on.” He told the others. Erik immediately pulled out his belt and handed it over to Natasha, who was next to Tony, and placed it in Tony’s mouth.

“Ready?” Cas asked and Tony nodded frantically.

His eyes widened in both pain and horror as he watched Castiel’s hand sinking into his chest like it was nothing and reaching for his very soul. He heard the others gasp at the scene around him.

The pain was indescribable. It was like his entire existence hurt. Every single cell in his body was screaming in pain. He bit hard on the belt in his mouth to keep from screaming as he slumped back and got held up by his friends from behind.

The pain only increased as Castiel touched his soul. It burned. It was too much. But he held on. He was doing this for Steve. No pain will stop him.

He watched as Castiel glowed from the amount of power that surged through him. Everything in the angel glowed in a heavenly glow that filled the room.

Then suddenly, Castiel pulled back his arm from Tony’s chest and slammed it on Steve’s middle.

Tony collapsed back on his friends and panted hard from the pain while the belt fell from his mouth. He watched as Steve’s body glowed for a few seconds, burning away the black veins into nothing.

333

When it was over, Steve let out a gasp as he opened his eyes wide and looked around in confusion.

Castiel watched him as he trailed his eyes at everyone, stopping at Castiel for a moment to blink at him dumbfounded then his eyes landed on Tony, who was being supported by Bucky and Sam as he failed to keep himself upright completely.

“Tony?” The soldier tensed as he saw Tony before rushing to sit up and pulling the genius towards him to gather him in his arms frantically. “Tony, what the hell did you do?”

Tony was probably too exhausted to answer him, so he just buried his face into his shoulder and slumped completely against him. Steve let out a shuddering breath as he tightened his arms around him and gathered him towards his chest. He looked up at Castiel and gave him a smile and mouthed a ‘thank you’ before burying his face into Tony’s hair.

Castiel smiled at them and trailed his eyes towards the others. Erik was holding Charles in his arms tightly while he smiled down at his husband who was grinning at Tony and Steve then looked up to grin affectionately at Erik. Bruce was leaning heavily on Thor in relief as the large man wrapped his arms around him happily. Wilson and Bucky were sitting cross legged on the floor as they leaned against each other while smiling happily. Natasha wrapped her arms around Sam and hugged him close as the Winchester hugged her back just as tightly. Raven and Charlie were watching everyone with a huge smiles on their faces while holding hands. Clint just stood there, smiling happily and glaring at the couples at the same time.

Castiel stopped when his eyes didn’t find the one he was looking for. The most important one he thought he was here the whole time.              

But he wasn’t.

“Dean?” he called out as he scrambled to get on his feet and looked around the ruined room. “Dean? Where’s Dean?”

They all froze and looked at him. Even Steve and Tony who pulled away a little to look at him with wide eyes.

“Dean?” Tony called out weakly and tried to get up but was way too weak to even move, Steve just held him closer as he looked around for Dean.

“Dean, where’s the hell are you?” Sam called out as he and the others trailed their eyes around the room.

“’M here.” They heard him calling weakly on the far side of the room. They all snapped their eyes towards where his voice was coming from. “I’d love to come and see what’s going on there and hug around but I think I managed to break my brain.”

Castiel was immediately running across the room without wasting a second and landed on his knees next to Dean’s slumped formed. He was clutching at his head hard with blood falling from his nose heavily and a pained look on his face.

“Dammit, Dean.” Castiel cursed as he held Dean’s head gently in his hands and ignited his grace again.

He saw the look of pure relief in Dean’s eyes as the pain in his head was gone and was able to look around without making the pain worse.

His eyes settled on Castiel’s face and a dazed grin spread on Dean’s face.

“Hi, there, Baby.” He drawled happily as he looked him up and down. “Happy Anniversary.”

Castiel let out a startled laugh at that as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against Dean’s and smiled happily down at him.

“Happy Anniversary, Dean.” he murmured sweetly against his lips and pressed a gentle kiss against them. “Also, if you ever tried to use our bond while you have a head injury again, I will murder you.”

“No, you won’t.” Dean smiled cheekily up at him and wiggled his eyebrows. “Besides, it was worth it. You were pretty hot there. Literally.”

Castiel just raised an eyebrow at him but couldn’t hide the amused smile on his face.

“I love you.” he murmured gently as he leaned forward again and pressed a kiss to Dean’s lips. “I love you so much.”

“I know.” Dean smiled happily against his lips as he raked his fingers through his hair. “I love you too, Sweetheart.”

They pulled away so Castiel could pull Dean to his feet and supported him when stumbled a little.

“So, what was all that yelling earlier about? I heard the voices but didn’t hear the words.” Dean asked curiously as he wrapped an arm around Castiel and pulled him close to his body.

“Cas was just playing basketball with my soul. No big deal. Oh, and I am fine by the way.” Tony’s weak, amused voice answered, making them jump a little since they kinda forgot that they weren’t alone.

Castiel looked up to see that everyone was standing a few feet away from them, watching the two of them with amused smiles.

Tony was leaning heavily and weakly against Steve who took his weight completely with a happy smile while wrapping his arms around him. Charles was still in Erik’s arms and seemed to be very content there as he was pulled close to the Metal Bender’s chest. The other couples and Clint just watched them with relieved, amused smile.

“Your soul.” Dean blinked for a few seconds, trying to make his fuzzy brain understand what Tony just said before it hit him. “Damn, dude. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. I will probably be hundred percent again in a decade or two, but it was worth it.” he smiled as he looked up at Steve who tightened his arms around him while looking down at him lovingly.

“I still can’t believe you did this. For me.” Steve whispered as he took in Tony, like he was physically unable to look away from him.

Tony just smiled back at him and leaned over to bury his face in Steve’s chest happily.

Sam walked over to crash Dean in a bear hug that had Dean whining about not able to breathe but hugged Sam just as tightly.

“Glad you are back in one piece, Bitch.” Dean murmured teasingly.

“Jerk.” Sam murmured back with a grin.

“Well, now that everyone is back and I am the awkward single dude, I really want to get out of here. So, shall we?” Clint announced with a halfhearted glare at all the couples.

“You are just jealous about the fact that you will die alone.” Bucky smirked at him as Wilson laughed and pulled him closer.    

“He isn’t going to die alone. Well, he will die single, but not alone.” Charles shrugged with a grin at Clint.

“Sheesh, thanks. I appreciate it.” Clint rolled his eyes as he moved to get out of there.

When they were about to follow him, Sam rushed to Natasha and took her hand to stop her.

“Wait, Nat. I-I need to ask you something.” He started, looking nervous but determined.

“Yeah, what is it?” she looked up at him encouragingly and squeezed his hand with a smile.

The others stopped and turned to watch them.

“Do you think he will-“ Dean started to whisper.

“We are about to find out.” Steve whispered back as he watched them intently.

 

“Uhm, I-I was planning to ask for a while now, but couldn’t find the right time. I know I have been distant lately and I am sorry. Didn’t mean to be like that. There was never a right time. I was just nervous and I was-“

“Sam? What is it?” Natasha stopped his rambling while frowning in concern.

“What I am trying to ask is-“ he took a deep breath then dropped to one knee and pulled something out of his pocket. The others froze and stared, not daring to even breathe. Natasha just looked down at Sam with wide eyes. “You-you are the best thing that ever happened to me. Honestly, I thought I will end up alone and die alone like Clint-“ 

“Hey!” Clint exclaimed indignantly and Thor clapped his hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“-But then I saw you and I-I love you. Really love you. I want a future with you. I want everything with you. Even if sadly will mean you have to deal with Dean for the rest of your life.”

Dean was about to protest but Castiel covered his mouth with his hand without looking away from the scene while the others chuckled at Dean’s disgruntled face.

 “So, uhm,” Sam opened his hand to reveal a simple ring with a ruby in its center. “Will you marry me, Nat?”

Natasha was staring frozen at Sam during his speech with wide eyes, like she couldn’t understand what was happening.

She opened her mouth a few times to answer but it seemed like she couldn’t came up with words.

“I think you broke her.” Clint commented in amusement earning a sharp jap in his ribs from Bruce’s elbow.

“Nat?” Sam asked carefully as he looked up at her nervously.

“Yeah. Yeah, Sam.” She finally answered with a small smile as she looked down at him fondly.

“Yeah?” Sam grinned hopefully.

“Yeah, you giant puppy. Yeah.” that was probably the first time they ever saw Natasha smiling with real happiness like that. It was refreshing.

Sam stood up and Natasha extended her hand so he could slip the ring. Both of them were grinning at each other happily, momentarily forgetting their audience.

“You know, Sam, when you said you will do it the moment we come back, I didn’t think you meant literally.” Steve commented with a fond smile at the both of them.

“And he did it in a destroyed room, after his brother got a severe concussion, his brother in law shoved a hand in his friend’s soul so he could save that friend’s husband’s life. How romantic is that.” Erik raised an eyebrow at the smiling couple.

“You have to admit, with our lives? That actually considered romantic.” Tony grinned happily even though he couldn’t stay upright without staggering.

“Make way for the best man.” Dean grinned as he made his way to the couple and crashed the both of them in a hug, ignoring Natasha’s protests and squirming. “Deal with it, Nat. you have no choice now.”   

She stopped and smiled a little as she wrapped her arms around him return. “Yeah, I knew what I am getting myself in.”

With that, everyone came forward to hug and congratulate the both of them with huge happy grins on everyone’s faces.

“We will have another midgardian wedding!” Thor rejoiced happily and loudly as he wrapped his arms around the both of them. “We must celebrate that glorious day!”

“Hey, Nat? Can I be your maid of honor?” Clint smiled innocently at Natasha who raised her eyebrow at him.

“Only if you wear a dress.” She smirked at him while Charles giggled at Clint’s pout.

“Oh, come on!”

333

Next day, they were all in Charles study late morning since they all woke up a little late than usual.

Tony made himself comfortable in Steve’s lap as they sat on the couch, not caring about anything except the fact that he didn’t want to be away from his husband even for a second and how comfortable Steve was for his aching body. Steve wasn’t complaining, he just wrapped his arms around him tightly and close to his chest.

Beside them in the couch, Castiel was sitting on the far side with Dean pretty much draped over the angel’s lap with a content smile as Castiel raked his fingers through the hunter’s hair while smiling down at him fondly.

Natasha was sitting on an armchair, with Sam sitting in front of her on the floor and was leaning back between her opened legs, very content as she played with his hair.

Thor was sprawled over another couch with Bruce on top of him, both smiling happily. Raven and Charlie on the floor, backs resting against the couch as they leaned against each other comfortably. Bucky and Wilson sprawled on the floor next to each other and was staring at the ceiling with dazed smiles.

Clint sat on another armchair scowling at them all.

That week was a painful blow to all of them. Yesterday specifically was hard on Tony. He almost lost Steve.

The thought alone brought shivers through his body, making Steve tightening his arms around him. When they were alone in their room the night before, Steve cried into Tony’s chest, repeating over and over again how sorry he was about the pain Tony had endured to save him.

He will never regret asking Castiel to recharge from his soul. The pain he was feeling in every bone in his body and the constant state of exhaustion he was in, was worth it. Worth having Steve safe and alive in his arms again.

Steve was his everything. He would do it again and again if it meant that it will save his everything.

Charles and Erik entered the room then, the latter with an amuse smile while the former was glaring at all of them.

“What? You didn’t get lucky last night or something?” Dean smirked over at them, earning a shove from Castiel for his trouble.

“Oh, I did get lucky. I also heard each one of you as you all got lucky. In graphic detail.” Charles hissed as he scowled at them.

They blinked back at him for a second.

“I am sorry, what?” Castiel tilted his head at the telepath with barley contained amused smile.

“Well, it is safe to say that the mansion turned into an orgy last night, and my brain was only filled with that fact. I now sadly knows that Sam is rough in bed and Natasha likes it. Dean is a loud, very enthusiastic and bossy bottom and Castiel is a whipped, sappy top. Steve really loves ridding Tony, which this specifically I really didn’t want to know about. Sam and Bucky argues about who bottoms since they both really likes it. Thor is very, _very_ loud and actually managed to make Bruce loud too. As for Raven and Charlie I really don’t want to talk about it.” Charles’ scowl intensified. “So, as you can see. I am in a very terrible mood. Clint you are officially my new favorite. He was very quiet in the company of his hand.”         

Erik was desperately trying to rein his laughter, as everyone stared at Charles with wide eyes and flushed faces. Well, everyone except for Dean, Tony and Natasha who just had satisfied smirks on their faces.

“Well, this is awkward.” Steve groaned as he hid his flushed face into Tony’s shoulder as his husband just let out a loud laugh.

“Seriously, aren’t you supposed to be pained or something? You had a hand shoved into your soul, then later you get laid enthusiastically like it was nothing.” Charles exclaimed looking at Tony indignantly.

“Well, technically I didn’t do anything. I just laid back as this sexy bastard did all the work happily.” Tony grinned and nibbled at Steve’s ear, when he groaned in embarrassment into Tony’s shoulder.

“God, I hate you right now.” Charles growled at Tony while Erik lost his fight and just laughed at Charles’ angry scowl.

“As for me, I am not going to apologize.” Dean just closed his eyes with a big satisfied smile on his face. Castiel smiled down at him in amusement while caressing his hair. “It was our anniversary. We have every right to be loud.”

“And we were celebrating our engagement.” Natasha shrugged as she wrapped her legs around Sam’s torso to bring him closer to her with a smirk, he just obliged happily and leaned back against her.

“It was only our second time. We deserve to get some slack.” Bucky beamed innocently while Wilson laughed loudly.

“We were excited for our date tonight, and couldn’t wait until after.” Raven blinked innocently at him while Charlie giggled into her hand.

“We have no excuse, but no regrets.” Bruce chuckled while Thor just shrugged.   

“And I had been good.” Clint raised an eyebrow at them but looked to be amused.

“I hate all of you.” Charles groaned and placed his face into his hands, obviously getting very graphic thoughts involuntarily into his brain. Erik just crouched down to wrap his arms around him while still chuckling at his distress.

The laughed for a few more minutes before sobering up.

“That was an intense week.” Dean said as he blinked up at the ceiling looking dazed.

“That is one word for it.” Steve sighed as he leaned back against the couch, pulling Tony with him.

“We deserve a vacation.” Tony announced excitedly.

“Yes, that will go well.” Charles rolled his eyes as Erik sat on the floor so he could rest his head against Charles’ thighs.

“Come on! It’s a double anniversary and an engagement that we had to celebrate indoors because of our injuries. We need a vacation to compensate that. And you two will come with us."

"But it is not our anniversary." Erik said blinking in surprise.

"So? You are still coming. You need to get out more, Lehnsherr. Do you even remember what the world looks like?"

Erik just rolled his eyes at him while Charles trailed his eyes between the both of them with a happy smile. Probably ecstatic they didn't try to rip each other's throats so far.

"How about a beach somewhere tropical?” Tony suggested excitedly.  

“A shark could eat us with our luck.” Castiel murmured as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back at the couch.

“Good point. Hiking on a mountain or something?”

“One of us will fall off I just know it.” Bucky commented with a roll of his eyes.

“Camping?”

“No!” Steve, Castiel, Charles, Sam, Thor and Bucky exclaimed at once in panic.

“God, I never want to see any forest again for the rest of my life.” Steve shuddered as he shook his head with a grimace.

"Right. Sorry. Skiing?"

"That is a sure way to die from either freezing to death or snapping your neck." Bruce commented helpfully.

“Okay. Moving on. A road trip?”

“Car accidents.” Sam and Dean said together automatically. “Very humiliating way to die in our cases.”

“I hate our lives.” Tony groaned and hid his face into Steve’s chest miserably.

"We will figure something out without tempting fate to kill us. Don't worry." Steve chuckled as he pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

333

Later that day, Castiel was in the kitchen trying to something that at least visually represented a sandwich.

Dean was back to bed, since he was still a little tired from everything that happened and Castiel was trying to make lunch.

He could have asked Steve, but the soldier had enough on his plate with how Tony still injured and pained. He tried to at least heal Tony’s broken arms but he refused. Saying that Castiel already did enough with his grace and a broken arm will not kill him so he will suck it up and handle. Castiel kept asking anyway, maybe he will cave at some point.

When he was somewhat satisfied with the resulted sandwich, he placed it on a plate and turned to leave, only to find himself face to face with Erik.

The Mutant blinked at him for a few seconds silently, while Castiel blinked back expectantly. He seriously never thought he will meet someone as terrible as him socially. Erik certainly wasn’t a social person obviously.

Well, he was social, but with only one person. That counts, right?

“Hello, Erik.” Castiel greeted when the silence went a little too long to be comfortable. “Something on your mind? Besides Charles, that is.”

Erik blinked at him again before catching on to Castiel’s joke and caught the slight rising of the angel’s lips. He smiled a little as he relaxed somewhat.

“Yes, sorry. Uhm, are you busy?” Erik started as he gestured towards the sad looking sandwich in the plate in Castiel’s hand.

“No, I am. I still need to wake him again anyway so he could eat something.” Castiel shrugged and looked expectantly at Erik.

“I don’t think he will want to wake up to that.” Erik raised an eyebrow at the poor sandwich then back up at Castiel.

“Well, usually I am not allowed in kitchens alone anymore. So, cooking isn’t one of my skills.” He winced as he looked down at the plate. “I was about to poison him, wasn’t I?”

Erik just let out a small chuckle and took the plate from Castiel’s hand then threw the sad sandwich in the trash, before starting to make a new one.

“You are a pretty good cook.” Castiel complimented as he watched him. “I enjoyed your dinners.”

“Someone has to feed those poor students.” Erik just shrugged as he worked. “They can’t depend on Charles or Raven on that. They will either die from poisoning or burn alive in their rooms.”

“That’s comforting.” Castiel smiled at that, before looking at Erik carefully. “You wanted to tell me something.”

Erik paused as he hesitated a little before looking up at Castiel. This was very different from the Erik he met a week ago. This one didn’t look guarded and tense around Castiel. Not anymore.   

“I just wanted to say thank you.” he said as he looked up into Castiel’s eyes. The angel was caught off guard at the gratitude he saw there. “For what you did for Charles. For bringing him home safe. He’d have been gone forever if it wasn’t for you.”

“Anyone would have done the same.” Castiel just shrugged with a smile.

“But you are the one who did it. You had no reason to. You had just met Charles. I only showed distrust and aversion towards you. You didn’t have to risk your life for him, but you did it anyway. I owe you until the day I die. If you ever needed anything I will willingly give it to you.”

“Well, there’s something you could give me.”

“Anything. Just say the word.”

“Your friendship.” Castiel smiled warmly at the mutant and held out a hand towards him. “I’d like to have you as a friend, Erik.”

Erik blinked back at him, taken aback by his request before smiling and shook Castiel’s hand.

“I’d love to have your friendship, Castiel.” Erik nodded at him with a smile before going back to finish the sandwich. “I have to warn you, though. I am a bit rusty in that area.”

“Charles is your first and only friend, isn’t he?” Castiel raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.

“Pretty much. I am not good at being nice all the time.”

“You have a whole lot of new friends now, so you will have to deal with it.”

Erik handed him the new sandwich that looked way better than the abomination Castiel had made before.

“I think I will be able to handle it just fine.” Erik gave him a small smile.

Castiel couldn’t help smiling back at him.

333

Steve was laying his side on the bed, arm supporting his head as he looked down at his sleeping husband.

He was sleeping peacefully even with how much his body still hurts him.

He wanted to beg Tony to let Cas heal him, but Tony was right. Castiel too needed to rest, he used too much grace on them the past week to save their lives over and over again. Hell, he already healed Steve alone over a hundred times by now.

He just hated to see Tony in pain. Especially, if it was because of him. He knew Tony didn't blame him. And he wasn't even made at Tony for doing something that could have killed him if it went wrong.

If the roles were reversed, he'd have done the exact same thing.

This was how things were going for them. They will save the other even if it cost them everything. Because they will not live a day over the other.

Tony was his soulmate. No one can live without his soul. That was just another term of death even if you were breathing.

"What are you thinking about?" Tony's sleepy voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked down to see his brown eyes looking up at him sleepy but curiously.

"You." he answered easily and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss against his lips. "Always you."

"I certainly love your priorities." Tony smiled up at him cheekily. "Now I want details. I hope it is dirty."

"I was thinking about how much I love you." Steve murmured as he trailed his hand on the side of Tony's face. "About how I can never live without you. About how having you there, by my side, can gave the strength to do anything. How lost I am if you weren't there. How-how I am always happier when I am with you. All my fears, pains, anxieties, they just disappear. I just love you. So damn much."

Tony looked up at him with eyes filled with so much emotion that Steve's heart ached. Tony's eyes will always be one of his many weaknesses considering the man in front of him.  

"I know how horrendously sappy that will sound." Tony started as he smiled up at Steve fondly. "But I love you, and I would pull the stars out of the fucking sky just to make you happy, and I know that you'd do exactly the same for me."

Steve trailed kisses down the side of Tony’s face gently, he hovered over his lips and looked down at him.

“What would you have done if I died yesterday?” he whispered as he looked carefully into Tony’s eyes.

“I would have died right behind you.” Tony answered without hesitation as he raised his hand to cup Steve’s face gently. “I will not live a day over you, Steve. I couldn’t. There will be no point to keep going. So, keep that in your mind when you go charging head first into anything.”

Steve’s heart banged painfully at that. Both their lives are linked to each other for years now. Sure, they lived decades before meeting each other, but it seemed like their entire lives was a road to each other. They were always meant to be here. In each other’s arms. No matter where or when. No matter which world. Their roads will always clash together. They will always find each other.

“You won’t have to.” Steve whispered as he pressed his lips against his husband’s. “You won’t ever have to. I will never do that to you, and you wouldn’t do it to me.”

“Good. That’s a good plan.” Tony murmured as he raked his fingers through Steve’s hair. “Now come on. Ride me like there’s no tomorrow, you sexy cowboy.”

333

Dean looked up when Castiel entered the room with a sandwich.

“Oh, you are awake.” Castiel stated as he looked at him in surprise. Understandable, since Dean was asleep but woke up when Castiel left the room earlier. he was going to go look for him but got distracted when he caught his reflection in a mirror by the dresser.

He looked tired. More tired than usual anyway. He didn’t understand why, Castiel healed him. He wasn’t injured anymore, and yet he felt himself exhausted all the time.

That couldn’t be because of the head injury. That was probably because of him using their bond. That must have wiped him out. He was human after all, he shouldn’t be using something he still doesn’t fully understand. Castiel always said it was dangerous.

But that saved his angel and their friends. So it was worth it. He will deal with the result. He always had.

He didn’t realize he was still standing there, staring at his own face, until Castiel came back with food.

“I woke up when you left.” He answered as he turned to his husband with a smile. “Please, tell me you are not the one who made that sandwich. Honey, you know I love you, but you are lethal in the kitchen and there’s little children in this mansion.”   

“You are being hilarious.” Castiel just rolled his eyes at him as he walked over to shove the plate in his hands. “And no. I didn’t make it. Erik did.”

“Erik?” Dean blinked at him, taken aback. “Did you bribe him or threatened him? Are you sure he didn’t poison it?”

“Neither, and I am pretty sure I will notice if it was poisoned.” Castiel raised an unamused eyebrow at him. “He made it out of his own free will.”

“Well, that is the fastest character development I ever witnessed.” Dean chuckled as he accepted the sandwich happily. “He didn’t try to kill you?”

“No. I think I just made a new friend.” Castiel smiled happily.

“That must have been exhausting.” Dean teased as he wrapped an arm around Cas to bring him closer and placed a kiss to his temple.

“I think I am getting better at being able to talk to people.”

“Steve doesn’t count. He is like a friendly puppy, wanting to be everybody’s friend, and you two bonded over being awkward dorks, but Erik is a big win.” Dean grinned at him as he started to eat his sandwich, which was really good to be honest.

“Thanks, Dean. You know what to say to make me feel better.” Castiel scowled at him but Dean could see the fondness in his eyes. He laughed and moved to kiss him but Castiel stopped him with a hand on his chest. “You are not kissing me with your greasy lips. Eat your damned sandwich.”

Dean smirked as he placed the plate on the dresser and starting to get close to Cas. “Oh, I am going to kiss you with my greasy lips and touch you with my greasy hands, Sweetheart.”

“Dean, no.” Cas stepped back but Dean moved fast.

“Dean, yes.” He retorted cheekily as he cupped Castiel’s face and smacked their lips together, ignoring Castiel’s protests as he pretty much wiped his hands all over the angel’s face.

“I don’t like you anymore and I regret my three years of being married to you.” Castiel scowled at him with no real heat and was fighting a smile.

“Lies. Liar. You are a liar.” Dean pressed a kiss after each word, trying to kiss away Castiel’s scowl.

“Why do you have to be a pain in the ass, Dean?” Castiel raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, yeah, maybe I’m a pain in the ass, but you are like a big cloud of gas, light, pure energy and stardust. That’s so cool, you are like a Sun.” he leaned forward to press his forehead against Castiel’s. “You are the light of my life, Sweetheart.”   

 Castiel looked at him with so many emotions in his eyes, that Dean felt weak in his knees as he stared back, before the angel cupped his face gently and kissed Dean deeply until the hunter felt a little dizzy.

“How long have you been waiting to say this?” Cas asked as he smiled against his lips.

“About twenty minutes.” Dean grinned back at him after stealing another kiss. “Still regretting your marriage?”

“Never did. Never will.” Castiel murmured with his special warm smile. “I love you, Dean. Even when you are being deliberately disgusting and annoying.”

Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel’s waist and pulled him flush against his body. “I love you too, Sunshine.”

“You just got grease all over my shirt, didn’t you?”

“…oops.”

333

Erik entered Charles’ study to find him waiting for him expectantly.

“Well? How did it go?” He asked as he looked up at him expectantly.

“We talked. I thanked him, and now I think I have a new friend.” Erik answered with a small considering frown. It was weird to say that, but it was good weird.

“Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. That must be terrible for you. Are you alright?” Charles smirked teasingly at him as he watched him walking closer to him.

“Very funny.” Erik rolled his eyes as he sat on the floor next to Charles’ chair to take his hand in his gently. “I have made friends before, you know.”

“I don’t count anymore. We got together just three months after meeting, and now I am your husband not your friend.” Charles raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling cheekily. “Try again.”

“Raven?”

“You kind of have to like her, she is your sister in law.”

“What about Hank?”

“You tried to kill him once, and he kind of constantly scared of you.”

“Logan?”

“Oh, yes! You became best friends after you dropped a building on his head!”

“That was years ago. Like I said, he made a move on you!”

“He still calls you Daddy Shark, and you call him piece of shit.”

“Alright, so I am not good at making friends.” Erik sighed and rested his head on Charles’ thighs.

“It’s quite alright, Dear. I didn’t fall for you for your amazing social skills.” Charles smiled down at him, as he raked his fingers through his hair gently. “You have Castiel as a friend now, and I saw that you got along well with Dean. You also made peace with Tony. I am so proud of you, love.”

“Yes, that was a very social week for me. It was terrible. Don’t you dare to leave me alone again like that.” Erik murmured, only half joking as he tightened his grip on Charles, like he will disappear if he didn’t hold on tight enough.

“I’m sorry, love. That must have been a hard week for you too.” Charles looked at him sadly as he brushed away hair from his face. “You know that I will never leave you on purpose, right?”

“I know.” Erik sighed as he raised his head to look up at him, his hands holding Charles’ gently. “What happened showed me how much I need you. How much I can no longer imagine a life without you there with me. You gave me a life, Charles. A beautiful life that I never want to see it gone. I don’t know what I’d have done if you didn’t forgive me and took me back in. probably in a prison somewhere fifty feet under or something.”

“Well, you are here now.” Charles smiled warmly at him as he cupped his face gently. “You came back to me. You built a life with me. Nothing in the past could jeopardize that. The past is gone. We still have our future together to focus on instead.” He then grinned at him happily. “And having a bigger family is never a bad thing. You don’t have to be afraid to open your heart for them. They will never hurt us and will always have our backs. You saw that yourself.”

“I still don’t like half of them.” Erik grimaced but it fell into a small smile after a second. “But I can tolerate having them in our lives. For now anyway. I might ending up killing one of them at some point.”

“That will be fun to watch.” Charles chuckled at that. “Just don’t ever try to play ‘Why are you hitting yourself’ with Tony if he was wearing his suit. That will get ugly very fast.”

“Here goes half my future plans.” Erik mocked frowned which earned him a laugh from Charles. He just loved it when Charles laughed. It was one of his favorite sounds. He leaned forward to press his gently against Charles’ smiling ones and pulled him closer to his body. “I love you, Schatz. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Never forget that.”

“You are such a sap.” Charles smiled at him happily and leaned again to capture Erik’s lips in another kiss. “I love you too, dear. Always. Forever.”

333

Dean woke up a few days later at three am.

He didn’t know what woke him up at first, so he just blinked stupidly at the ceiling for a few seconds. Trying to figure out what woke him up.

He reached out to Castiel unconsciously, only to find nothing.

He looked to the side in confusion and yup, he was definitely alone in bed, which was very confusing for him. Where Castiel could be at three am?

He blinked a few times when he smelt something in the air. It was the smell of something burning.

That was enough for him to get out of the bed and wear his discarded sweatpants and T-shirt and left the room to search for the source of the burning smell.

He walked down the corridor and took a corner, then almost collided with Erik, who seemed also trying to figure out what the smell was coming from.

“Charles?” Dean asked curiously.

“Not in our room. Castiel?” Erik questioned back.

“Nope. Gone too.”

“That is not comforting at all.” Erik frowned before motioning for him to follow. “Come on, I think the smell is coming from the kitchen.”

He was right. The closer they got to the kitchen, the thicker the smell become, they could also see the black smoke coming from there along with shouting.

They shared a quick look before speeding up to reach the doorway.

Only to stop and stare at the scene in front of them.

“Thor! For God's sake, wear some pants at least!” Tony was yelling as he was fidgeting with a toaster that was in a terrible shape, like it was crashed with a hammer or something.

“It is not like I have something you don’t already have.” Thor rolled his eyes as he stared angrily at the toaster.

“Is that the same logic you used when you smashed the toaster with your hammer?” Steve raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“That machine is possessed! It won’t give me any toast and just made strange noises!”

“I still don’t understand why you wanted to eat toast in the middle of the night.” Castiel sighed in frustration, while holding Thor’s hammer away from him as the large man tried to grab for it.

“I was hungry and it was there! I though it will be easy enough.” Thor defended and pouted, when Castiel pressed a hand against his chest to keep him away.

“Yeah, look how easy it is to smash a toaster!” Tony glared at him as the smashed toaster started to emit even more black smoke.

“Just please, try not to burn down the kitchen.” Charles sighed tiredly. “We kind of need it to feed everyone, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Your kitchen is fine. So far.” Tony rolled his eyes as he rolled around the toaster in his hands.

“Tony, you can’t fix it! We just buy Charles a new one.” Steve moved to take the toaster but Tony shoved him away.

“Shut up. I am a genius, I can fix a toaster just fine.” Tony protested indignantly.

“You are also a billionaire, so buying a toaster won’t be much trouble either.” Castiel commented in frustration as Thor tried to climb over him to take the hammer back.

“I can but I-“ the toaster suddenly let out a spark of electricity, then the next second it was on fire.

“Put it in the sink! Fast!” Charles called out in panic.

“How am I supposed to carry it when it is on fire?!” Tony yelled as he tried to grab it but Steve took hold of his arms and pulled him away.

“Oh, no, you are not. You do not touch a fucking burning toaster!” Steve carried him away as he ignored his protests.

Castiel and Thor grabbed the toaster fast and threw it in the sink, Steve rushed forward and opened the tap to cover it in water.

Which was a mistake, since the next second, the toaster exploded and now the kitchen became a huge, black cloud of smoke.

They all blinked at each other stupidly as they stared at the scene.

Erik and Dean shared a look before the former just shook his head with a sigh, and walked into the kitchen to take hold of Charles’ chair and just rolled him out and away, the telepath didn’t even try to protest.

Sam came running down the corridor and stopped next to Dean.

“What the hell happened? What was that explosion?” Sam asked frantically as he panted.

Dean trailed his eyes between Sam and the blinking superheroes in the kitchen and back again.

“Just a battle between Earth’s mightiest heroes and a toaster.” Dean explained blankly, ignoring Sam’s confused look. “The toaster just won.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this part! I'd really love it if you tell me what you think :D  
> Also, as promised, I added the Battle of the toaster! I hope my favourite fan and their duck loved it! Thank you so much for your constant comments! I always look forward to them! 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left kudos! you always managed to make my day much brighter and keep me going with this series!
> 
> This series is far from over! There still over twenty something story ideas I am planning to add to this universe! 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next part! I have to warn you though, the next part will be heavy on the angst. like really heavy. More than what I usually write. But always remember that I am a sucker for happy endings so you will shed tears but will have happy smiles on your faces in the end! Promise! 
> 
> See you guys soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Please, tell me what you guys think!


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